Extenuating Circumstances
by SarahtheBardess
Summary: (COMPLETE) AU. Two years ago, Sirius Black spared Peter Pettigrew's life. Now Padfoot has two weeks to get Wormtail to do the same for him. And even if it works, how will he convince everyone he's for real? R&R!
1. A Chance

_Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room._

_The second jet of light hit him squarely in the chest._

_The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock...._

_It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch..._

_And Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place._

J.K. Rowling, _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_

Chapter 1: A Chance

As do all long falls, Sirius' fall seemed to last ages, and yet only a second.

He had time to think quite a lot on his way down.

_Bugger, I didn't even get a good look, what was that spell Bella hit me with? Hope it wasn't a Killing Curse. It may have been – Harry certainly didn't look very happy to see it. No, of course it wasn't. If I was dead, I wouldn't still be thinking, right? Or still falling? I'm still falling, so I'm not dead yet. And isn't that a cheerful thought, Sirius Thomas Black. Regular little Bluebird of Happiness, aren't you. Just need a Whomping Willow to smack you into your senses._

Right about then, he had the distinct impression that one had.

_No, that's just the floor,_ he registered distantly. _Very hard floor, too. I'd think they'd soften it up if people fall into here all the time._

"Interesting entrance," said a voice behind him. "Don't think I've had a faller in a while. What got you?"

"I'm sorry?" Sirius turned his head to see that he was being addressed by a woman of middle years, with white streaks at her temples giving a distinguished look to a head of brown curly hair. She wore glasses over hazel eyes and was squatting next to him, regarding him politely.

"What got you?" she repeated. "How did you die?"

"I'm dead?" Sirius looked down at himself. He didn't _feel_ dead.

_Damn. If I'm dead, what's going to happen to Harry?_

"Well, most people who come here are. Let me check, just to make sure."

She got up and went around what looked like a wooden wall to Sirius. As he sat up, he could see that it was a desk – the walls in the small room were painted white. There was a glass door to a large hallway, where people were bustling along as they do in any large place, but his attention was drawn back to the desk by an odd rhythmic noise. The woman was pushing lettered buttons in an odd sequence with her fingers – that was what was making the tapping sound – and staring intently at a box lighted on one side.

_I've seen pictures of those. What are they called?_ "Is that a compluter?"

"Computer. It's helping me access your records. Hmm, recent arrivals... I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't. It's Black, Sirius Black."

"Sirius, like the star?"

"Yes ma'am."

"That's unusual. It's cute, though." She went back to tapping at the box.

Sirius felt slightly disgruntled. _My name is not cute. My name is dignified and handsome and excellent. _

_Just like me._

The computer emitted a low hooting noise, for all the world like an owl, and Sirius jumped.

"Well, that's odd," said the woman, looking over the desk at him. "According to this, you're not technically dead yet."

Sirius homed in on what seemed to be the most important word. "Yet?"

"You fell through an archway with a veil, do I have that correct?"

"Yes."

"That structure currently has your body in a state of suspended animation. It can remain that way for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, if it hasn't been redeemed, you will become fully and technically dead."

"Redeemed?" Sirius was beginning to feel like the Master of Saying Only One Word at a Time.

"That's the other oddity here. You spared a man's life a few years ago. A Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yes."

"You and two others, um, Remus – am I saying that right? – Remus Lupin and Harry Potter. This Pettigrew person owes his life to all three of you. But you, Mr. Black, are the one in a position to call in that debt."

"Call in the debt?" _Wow, four words at once. I'm improving._

"If you can get Mr. Pettigrew to agree to enter the veil in your stead within those two weeks, you can return to your world. You may have some trouble with mundane affairs, but I'm afraid that's not our department."

Sirius stared at her, feeling a wild hope. "Are you telling me there's a chance I could get back? I could live again?"

"Yes. But I must warn you, Mr. Black, it is only a chance. We can give you a very limited access pass to your original world. You will only be able to appear to the person in question, you will not be able to affect anything physically, and your time will be limited to those two weeks. And, of course, there's the problem of convincing Mr. Pettigrew to quite literally die for you. Am I correct in assuming the two of you have history together?"

"He betrayed one of our best friends and his wife and son," Sirius growled. "And framed me for it."

_And now he's my only hope of getting back to Harry._

_Wait. Harry._

"You said Pettigrew's life was credited to three people. Could one of them use him this way? Could he die, say, to bring Harry Potter back?" _Harry's going to need every chance he can get. No sense wasting it on me if it can help him._

The woman shook her head. "Not unless Mr. Potter happened to fall through this veil also, Mr. Black. These circumstances of yours are so strange that I've never seen a case like this before. Suspended animation deaths are very rare; life debts, not so much, but for the two to happen in conjunction is very odd indeed."

_Well, then there's no reason I shouldn't give it a try. And every reason I should._

"All right. Can you go over what I'd have to do again?"

The woman was about to reply when a shrill whistle caught Sirius' attention. His head whipped around to the glass door.

_I only ever knew one person who could whistle like that._

In the middle of the corridor beyond it stood a great stag with a dark coat and a huge crown of antlers. A woman sat sidewise on the stag's back, red hair spilling over one shoulder. Sirius didn't have to get any closer to know that the stag's eyes were hazel and the woman's were green.

_Harry's eyes._

He was startled by the thought. _I've always thought of Harry as having Lily's eyes, not the other way around..._

"Mr. Black," the woman behind the desk said gently. "If you plan to return to your world of origin, you're really not supposed to have contact with people who are here for good."

Sirius sighed. "They're the reason I want to go back. Or, rather, their son is the reason. And they're my best friends. Can't I at least say hello?"

The woman frowned for a moment. Finally she turned around. "I am blind and deaf for five minutes," she said quietly. "Starting now."

Sirius turned back to the window eagerly. The stag and its rider had vanished. But he didn't even have a chance to feel annoyed before Lily emerged from the crowd, followed by James. Sirius hurried over and pulled the door open. "Come on in," he said. "We have five minutes."

"Five minutes for what, Padfoot?" James said in his carefree way, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Time doesn't matter much around here. Unless you're planning on going back or something." He chuckled as Lily embraced Sirius.

"There's a chance I can. I'm taking it."

His friends stared at him. "A chance?" Lily finally asked. "Tell us everything, Sirius. What chance?"

"How much do you know? I mean, can you ever see what's happening there?"

"If we look," James said. "We've been keeping tabs on Harry ever since we got here."

"I will need to have a word with my sister when she gets here, by the way," Lily put in, speaking with the precise diction she only used when she was very angry. "She and her stupid git of a husband and that great bully they call a son... I'm sorry, love, do go on."

"We know he's a fifth year now," James said, "and we know about his friends – I'm glad he picked up with the Weasleys, they're a fun bunch, especially those twins – and that Chang girl he seems to be dating. But the last time we checked, Harry was safe at Hogwarts and you and Moony were doing Order work. You're the only people we look for regularly. What happened to you, anyway?"

Sirius told them as much as he knew – he had no idea, for instance, what Harry and his friends had been doing in the Department of Mysteries – and then backtracked some.

"Did you happen to see what happened around the end of Harry's third year?"

"With Wormtail?" James rolled his eyes. "Of course we saw it, you idiot, weren't you listening? We're keeping an eye on Harry, on Remus, and on you. That night affected all three of you. Nothing could have kept us away."

"So you saw Harry convince me and Moony to let the stinking rat live."

Lily smiled. "I've never been prouder of him."

"Sparing Peter means he owes his life to me. Well, to all three of us, but I'm the one who can use it. I get to go back in some form or other that only Peter can see, probably something like a ghost, and I have two weeks to convince him to go through the archway that I fell through. If he does, I guess it spits me out or something, and I get another chance."

"Padfoot," James said, shaking his head, "do you really think Wormtail, of all people, is going to be willing to die for someone else, even – especially – for you?"

"No," Sirius admitted. "But I have a chance to get back. I have a chance to help Harry. Even if it's doomed from the word go, I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"Agreed," Lily said, her voice trembling. "Tell Harry that we love him, Sirius. And tell him Cedric Diggory doesn't blame him at all."

"Tell him he's better than I was on a broom," James added. "I could never have dodged a dragon. And kick that little Malfoy git for me. Better yet, bite him."

"James!" Lily thumped her husband on the chest. "You're supposed to give up being mean when you die!"

"I guess even dying doesn't change some people," Sirius said, grinning. "It was wonderful to see you two. If this doesn't work out, I'll be back in two weeks; if it does, well... I'll be back when I'm back."

"We'll be here," James said.

There was just time enough for hugs all around. Then Sirius watched James and Lily as they disappeared into the crowd. Only when the last gleam of red hair was gone did he turn back to the woman behind the desk.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Black," she said, but Sirius saw a suspicious gleam in her eyes. "Now, you were asking about the protocols in this situation..."

Sirius found out that he would indeed look like a ghost to Wormtail, but a ghost with washed-out colors instead of true ghostly silver and white. No one else would be able to see him, though they might sense his presence. The stronger a person's magic, the likelier they were to be able to sense him. Sirius made a mental note to stay clear of Dumbledore.

He would be able to home in on people, so that he could find Wormtail without wasting any time. He could also go to other places than Wormtail's if he wanted, "but you only have two weeks, so I wouldn't recommend wasting any time," said the woman, pressing buttons at a furious rate. "Oh yes, and you may not lie to Mr. Pettigrew. You must tell him the truth about the situation. If you lie, your pass to that world will be terminated immediately and you will be returned here permanently. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am," Sirius said politely. _Hmmm... tell the truth, eh? I can think of a few truths little Peter doesn't want to hear..._

"You may depart." The woman pushed a final button, and a part of the wall formed itself into the twin of the archway in the Department of Mysteries. Sirius walked toward it, crossing his fingers. _Hang on, Harry. I'm coming._

"Mr. Black?"

He turned back. The woman was smiling at him.

"Good luck."

"Thank you, ma'am." Sirius stepped through the arch.

He felt a sensation not unlike traveling by Portkey, except that the feeling of being pulled was spread over his entire body, not centered at his navel. Then he was drifting about an inch off the floor of the archway chamber in the Department of Mysteries.

_Drifting?_

Well, he was a ghost, or close to one.

_Still, I think I'd prefer to have my feet on the floor._

It took a few moments, but he managed that.

_Wonder if I can transform?_

Sure enough, when he tried, he was able to take on the shape of a ghostly dog.

_I think I'll start out in this form. See what Wormtail thinks of me._

He thought of the sniveling rat of a man he had seen two years ago in the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade, and immediately he had a direction in his mind. Up, forward, and to the right.

_Hmm. If I can float, can I walk through walls?_

The answer was yes. Sirius grinned. _This is going to be fun after all._

He did a little investigating before leaving. The Far-More-Accurate-Than-Anyone-Really-Needs clock in the time chamber told him that he hadn't been gone more than about two hours.

_I don't remember being there that long... but time is probably skewed there. Wherever there is._

He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. _I can deal with that if and when I have to stay there. Right now, I'm on a mission._

With a loud bark, he bounded off to find Peter Pettigrew.

-----

(A/N: I think just about everyone has their own "Sirius comes back" idea. This is mine. Hope you like.)


	2. Detours

This should have gone on Chapter 1 – sorry!

Disclaimer: It's very simple. If you can find it (the character, place, thing, or idea in question) in a book with J.K. Rowling's name on the cover, it's hers. If not, it's mine. Thank you very much.

Chapter 2: Detours

Sirius found himself rather enjoying his state of semi-ghostliness. _I've always wondered what it would be like to walk through walls. And I don't seem to get tired at all. _

_But I certainly don't want to stay like this. So I have to find a certain rat and convince him to off himself. And not only that, but to off himself in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic, one of the most heavily protected places in the wizarding world!_

_Then again, if it's so protected, how the hell did a bunch of Hogwarts students get in there completely unnoticed?_

_Maybe it won't be so hard after all._

He slowed down as his "Wormtail sense" flashed at him frantically. A large building loomed ahead of him – it flickered in and out of his sight, one second a ramshackle farmhouse with broken windows, the next a handsome castle-like construction.

_A wizard manor. But whose?_

He moved closer to get a scent and growled. _Wormtail's here, all right. And Snivellus. And I smell a cousin... No, I smell two cousins. Cousin Bellatrix and Cousin Narcissa. Cousin Narcissa especially._

_This must be the Malfoys' place._

A scream suddenly rang out, a familiar scream, and Sirius winced. _Maybe it's not such a good idea to go visiting Peter right now. I'll come back when he's not being tortured._

_Who should I check on, then?_

The question answered itself. _Harry. What must he be going through right now?_

Sirius thought about his black-haired godson, and a new arrow formed in his mind. He followed it at a run.

-----

Harry Potter was pacing around his empty dormitory, trying not to stop, trying not to think. Thinking would mean facing facts. Sirius was gone. Gone forever.

He hated Bellatrix Lestrange, he decided. "I hate her," he said to the empty air. "I hate Bellatrix Lestrange. I want her dead. No, I want to hurt her. I want to hurt her like I tried to hurt her, with the Cruciatus Curse..."

_**You** used the Cruciatus Curse?!_

"Yes, of course I did. Where were you?" Harry demanded of the voice in his head. Then he realized what he was doing. "Great. Now I'm going insane."

_Pretend I wasn't there. Tell me what happened._

"No. I don't want to."

_Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?_

"All right, fine."

-----

Sirius had forgotten, when the clerk on the other side of the arch had told him that people with strong magic would be able to sense his presence, just how strong Harry's magic was. Harry could hear him in some way, it seemed, since his spontaneous and horrified "**You** used the Cruciatus Curse?!" had been promptly and appropriately answered.

And then, of course, he wanted to know what had gone on after he had... _died. Say it, Sirius, you died._ It was a very odd thought.

Well, now he knew. "So thinking of me saved you?" he asked. "Harry, I'm touched."

"I couldn't just plain hallucinate," Harry said grumpily, sitting down on his bed. "No, I couldn't think up any old person to talk in my head. Had to be Sirius. I wish he was here."

"I am here, Harry," Sirius said emphatically. "I know you can't see me, but I hope I'm helping somehow."

Harry sighed. "I guess this is what they call denial. I can't fathom Sirius being dead, so I conjure up his voice inside my head." He smiled without any real happiness behind it. "I wonder if he'll say what I always wanted him to."

"I love you, Harry. I don't think I ever told you that in so many words. I wish I could give you a hug, but it might be a problem at the moment."

"I just wish it wasn't my fault he's dead!" Harry exploded.

"It is NOT!" Sirius jumped to his feet. "Harry, don't you let anyone tell you that. It was not your fault. You cannot let yourself believe that."

"It is true, though," Harry said quietly. "If I hadn't gone to the Department of Mysteries, Sirius would never have gone there – and I went because I thought _he_ was there..."

"I'm sorry?"

Voldemort's false vision was duly explained. By the end of it, Sirius was angrier than ever. He had never known Voldemort personally, so there were only two possible sources for Voldemort to get mental pictures of him good enough to fool Harry.

_Either Wormtail, or Snivellus. _

"Harry, listen, you need to sleep. You had a hard night. I'll stay with you until you go to sleep, all right?"

Harry yawned. "Yeah, I think I'd like that... listen to me. I'm talking to a hallucination." He took his glasses off and set them on the nightstand.

"Hey, whatever waves your wand."

Harry smiled sleepily. "That's a good one. I like that. 'Whatever waves your wand.' Bet Snape wouldn't like it..." His eyes closed.

Sirius Black, semi-ghost, sat on his godson's bed and watched him sleep. _I can't believe I never did this in life. _

_You never got a chance_, said one part of his mind.

_I have to start making chances,_ retorted another part._ And I will. _

_As soon as I get back._

"Harry, don't give up on me yet," he said quietly. "And even if I don't make it back, never forget this. I love you more than anything. You are my reason for living." He laughed. "And don't I sound sappy. It's a good thing you're asleep and I'm dead. I would never have said any of this otherwise."

Harry smiled in his sleep.

"And before I forget, your parents send their love." Sirius ran his hand along Harry's forehead, although he couldn't actually touch the boy. "Sleep well. I'll be back when I can."

_Why don't I have a look-in on Moony before I tackle Wormtail again? Just to see how he's taking this. _

He snorted. _Ten gets you one he's drunk out of his mind._

He transformed into dog shape, pictured his best living friend, and took off running through the wall of Gryffindor Tower.

-----

Sirius would have won the bet with himself had he actually set it up. Remus Lupin was indeed drunk out of his mind. Or at least well on the way.

"Everyone dies," he said wearily, pacing his living room floor. "Everyone dies or runs away. At least it feels like it. God, I have to stop talking to myself."

_So talk to me._

Remus whipped around. There was no one there. Or... he squinted. Wasn't there a vague radiance in the corner by the window?

"Is someone there?" he asked a bit thickly. He recalled whom his first instinct had said the voice belonged to. "Padfoot, if that's you, I'm going to kill you. Oh, that's right. Too late." He laughed bitterly and poured himself another drink.

_You really ought to lay off that stuff. It's not good for you._

"As if I care," Remus said, and lifted the glass. "Cheers." He drank the entire thing at once and gasped for air. "Whoo. Nice, potent stuff, that. Whatever it is. I can't see well enough to read the label anymore."

_Maybe you should go lie down, Moony. You never did have much tolerance for alcohol._

"You should talk. Who got snagged by McGonagall for drunk and disorderly in the hallway on nothing more than butterbeer?"

_I've always suspected James doctored that butterbeer._

"Of course, you never knew I put a shot or two of firewhiskey in yours."

_Why, you smug, rule-following, prune-faced..._

Remus grinned as he made his unsteady way toward the bedroom. "I guess thirteen years in Azkaban will teach you to curse well if nothing else." He tripped over something but regained his balance by grabbing the edge of the doorframe. "Must be drunker'n I think I am if I'm talking to _you_, Padfoot. You're dead. Not even Marauders get out of that."

He fell onto the bed backwards, still talking. "You got out of the McGonagall thing by pleading extenuating circumstances, I think." He kicked off his shoes and pulled his feet up on the bed. "And she let you off even though you were so drunk you couldn't say 'extenuating' right..."

Sleep sneaked up on him and ambushed him before he could finish the sentence.

-----

"Taking it kind of hard, aren't you?" Sirius said to his unconscious friend. "Not that I don't appreciate it, of course, but still. You are not going to be a happy werewolf tomorrow."

"You thought _I_ slipped you firewhiskey?" said a voice behind him.

Sirius yelped and whirled around. "What are you doing here?" he demanded of James Potter.

"Management sent us," said Lily, smiling mischievously. She and James both looked like living people, except that they seemed... _brighter_ was the only term Sirius could come up with. "They realized you didn't know quite everything you needed to."

Sirius groaned. "Please don't tell me there's bureaucracy in the afterlife."

"No, just occasional slip-ups," James said. "The clerk who briefed you was working from the only case she had, which was quite a long time ago. A young man was executed by a corrupt government by being thrown through the archway. His best friend, whose life he had saved long ago, sacrificed himself, since the dead man had a family and the friend had none."

Sirius shrugged. "I don't get it. Where's the problem?"

"Well, considering your history with Wormtail..." James shrugged. "Somebody in charge figured friendship wasn't going to cut it here. They decided you needed some facts to argue with. Facts about what it's like over there."

_Well, this goes on the list of things I never thought I'd be doing. Along with most of the rest of today._ "All right, ready whenever you are."

"You want to start, love?" James asked Lily. "You're probably better at this."

Lily nodded. "The first thing you have to understand," she said to Sirius, "is the essence of the other world. What it's based on, what really matters. It's _truth_. Everything is about who and what we truly are."

"That means that everyone knows the truth, about everything," James said. "If I want to know the truth about what someone did or said, I just have to look at them, and I know." He sighed. "Makes pranking difficult, I can tell you that."

"Only you would see it like that," Lily said, giving her husband an affectionate shove. "Physical contact is different, too. Watch. If I try to hit James, to hurt him –" Her hand passed through James' face, and Sirius shivered. "I simply can't touch him at all. Hostile magic doesn't work either."

"People judge you, and whether or not they want to get to know you, by who you really are and what you really deserve," James said. "Peter's in for a lonely time of it when he comes through, if he keeps on as he is."

"The really sad ones are the ones like Voldemort," said Lily. "The ones who hated everyone and never did a good thing in their lives. No one wants to be around them, and because they want to hurt so much, they end up not being able to touch anyone. So they go around like ghosts, without any kind of hope, without... anything, really." She shook her head. "It's even sadder because if you're interested and friendly, there's just so much to do and see."

"Dumbledore told Harry something once," James recalled. "In his first year. Something like 'Death is just the next great adventure.' As usual, he's right."

"Have you ever known Dumbledore to be wrong?" Sirius asked wryly. "This is very interesting, but I'm afraid I don't see what it has to do with me and Peter."

"One thing everyone appreciates over there is self-sacrifice for another's good," Lily said. "One self-sacrificial act can really go a long way towards redeeming a person."

"So this is Peter's big chance," James said. "If he dies to bring you back, he gets credit for that – if he spills what he knows about Voldemort before he goes, he gets some credit for that, too. Help to counteract murder and accessory to murder and all that nasty stuff."

"That... makes a lot of sense," Sirius said slowly. "I only hope Wormtail thinks so."

"I think he will," Lily said. "He's sure to have been thinking about death a great deal recently."

"Oh, one other thing, mate," James said. "One last message for Harry. Could you tell him that Snape may not remember it, but I apologized to him for that whole pantsing deal? Harry was about a year old at the time, and Snape and I happened to be alone together for a minute, and I remembered what an idiot I'd been that day – and a lot of other days, too – and I said I was sorry. Snape even accepted it. Very cold about it, but what do you expect. Pass that on for me?"

"You bet, Prongs. See you on the other side."

"I was supposed to say that," James said, looking a trifle miffed. "And by the way, if I _had_ had firewhiskey, I would have offered it to you straight up."

Lily laughed. "You two. Always bickering. Good-bye, Sirius. Give Remus our love."

"I will," Sirius promised. "Bye."

Lily took James' arm, and with one last wave, the pair vanished.

"Whaa?" said Remus groggily from the bed. "Prongs, is that you? Lily?"

"No, they just left, Moony. But they said to give you their love."

"Oh. Thanks." Remus rolled over on his side.

Sirius chuckled. _His dreams will probably be pretty strange. But he can take care of himself._

_Now it IS time to find a certain rat. Find him, and save his soul, by persuading him to commit suicide._

_This is far and away the strangest day I have _ever_ had!_

-----

(A/N: Yay reviewers!

MAndrews: Here you are. Thanks for worrying!

Caprice-Ann HedicanKocur: I think you win my "most enthusiastic fan" award. I love you. ::hug::

emikae: Hey, stuff happens. Thanks, maybe I will. This is definitely a "write-as-I-go" type of story – I have my destination in mind, but I'm driving some unusual roads to get there. As for how much is done, you're looking at it. Maybe when I finish Home I'll stick this on its update time. Until then, updates will remain "whenever I can".

Thanks for reading my weird fantasies! I heart you all!)


	3. First Contact

Chapter 3: First Contact

_Time for a little primal screaming, I think._

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

_That felt good. Didn't do much, but it felt good._

Sirius Black was frustrated.

_It seems like every time I try to get close to Peter, he's with a bunch of other people, so I can't talk with him without making him seem more bonkers than he already is. Either that or he's asleep or with his slimy Master. Honestly, does he never get a minute to himself?_

Four of his precious fourteen days had passed, and he hadn't gotten so much as a chance to talk with Wormtail yet. It was also proving more difficult than anticipated to keep an eye on Peter without letting Peter see him.

_I may have missed my chance already. Or maybe they messed up, and no one can see me. Or they messed up and _everyone_ can see me. Harry and Moony didn't have much trouble figuring out I was there..._

He shook his head sharply. _Pull yourself together, Sirius. Go have another try. It's not over until it's over._

_Of course, it was supposed to be over when I went and _died...

_Never mind._

Assuming dog shape, he trotted into the manor house and walked nonchalantly up the wall. _I've always wanted to do this._

Halfway up, he stopped and growled as Bellatrix Lestrange came hurrying down the hall, muttering to herself, her arms full of scrolls. Sirius caught only the words "plans" and "wards", and something about "whinging". _Probably talking about Peter. He had that down to an art form._

As his head poked through the floor, he smelled familiar odors. Sweat. Fear. Grease. And, unmistakably, rat.

_Now which room is his? I know I saw him last night... was it at this window?_

He sniffed again, cautiously. _Yes, his scent is strongest here. Have to be careful, if he's got someone else in the room I could ruin it all right now..._

His ears registered a sound he knew. He had gotten a lot more familiar with it recently, from his daily check-ins on Harry. Someone was crying.

And that someone was inside the room he was investigating.

_Even Wormtail wouldn't cry in front of the other Death Snarfers. I think I may have a winner here._

Ever so carefully, he insinuated his head through the door.

Sure enough, he had found what he was looking for. Peter Pettigrew, as little and homely as ever, was sitting on the bed sobbing into his mismatched hands. Sirius felt a momentary flash of pity for the boy he had known in school.

It was obliterated by a cold rush of hate for what this man, this _rat_, had done to Harry, to James and Lily, to Sirius himself, and to everyone he cared about.

_Time for a little payback, Marauder-style._

He pulled his head back into the hallway, took human form, and stepped through the door.

"Hello, Peter," he said.

-----

Peter Pettigrew had been glad, ashamed of himself but glad, when he found out that Bellatrix had killed Sirius Black. He had always been afraid that Sirius – _no, I can't think of him that way, it's too dangerous_ – that Black, then, would seek him out and take personal revenge, despite the obvious foolishness of such an act. He was, after all, an important follower of the Dark Lord himself. And now that Black was dead, the danger was past.

Still, he couldn't help but grieve, a little, and in secret, as he had grieved for what he had done fifteen years ago on Halloween, as he had grieved for the handsome boy he had killed in the graveyard on the night his Master had been resurrected. _I never meant to do this with my life. I never meant for any of this to happen. _

_And no one will ever forgive me._

"Hello, Peter," said a voice.

Peter had been on many adventures. First as a Marauder, then as a Death Eater, then as a rat belonging to a Weasley boy (not so much with Percy, but Ron was a more venturesome type), and then finally as a Death Eater again. He had been afraid many times.

But he had never been as afraid as he was at this moment.

There was a faintly glowing, washed-out-looking version of Sirius Black leaning nonchalantly against his door.

All he could do was squeak.

"That's right, keep it down," said Sirius approvingly.

_It _is_ Sirius. But how can it be Sirius? He's dead. _

"You're dead," he managed in a frantic squeal before panic closed his throat again.

"Not quite, as it happens." Sirius smiled in his most charming manner, the one he only used when he wanted something. "And there's a reason I'm here. I'm sure you remember a certain night at the Shrieking Shack a few years ago."

Peter nodded.

"I spared your life that night, Peter," Sirius went on. Peter got the sense he was choosing his words very carefully. "That means you owe me. Well, really you owe Harry, but you owe Moony and me as well."

Peter shivered. "I know." _He's going to kill me, I know he's going to kill me..._

"Tell me something, Wormtail. Is this really what you wanted from your life? Working for the scum of the earth, betraying your friends? We were friends, weren't we?"

_Friends. My friends. I had friends once. _

_No. Death Eaters don't have friends._

"_I_ thought we were friends," Sirius said persuasively. "Don't you remember full moon nights roaming the forest, days planning up pranks and jokes, all the good times we had?"

"Don't." Peter turned away. "Please, don't."

"Why not?"

"It hurts to think... about them. About what I did. I didn't want to betray them, but _I didn't want to die either!_ And I made a choice, and it was the wrong one, and there's no way I can ever fix anything..." His voice failed, and he stuffed his sleeve into his mouth so no one else would hear him crying, crying like a baby for something done and gone beyond recall.

"There's a way you could start," Sirius said quietly.

"Start what?"

"Start fixing things. If you want to."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm sure you've heard all about the fight at the Department of Mysteries by now from Bellatrix. All about the archway and the veil. Right?"

Peter nodded.

"I'm beyond that veil. Or my body is. And it's still alive. If someone who owes me his life passes through the veil within the next ten days, I can return to this world, alive. That person would die to save me. Like James died, trying to save Lily, and Lily died to save Harry."

_Damn him. Damn his name-dropping. James, oh Lily, god, I'm so sorry..._

_Ignore it. Focus on the facts, Peter. He wants you to go through that veil. He wants you dead._

_No. No way. He's out of his mind._

"I saw them, by the way," Sirius added casually. "Lily and James."

Peter felt, for the second time in ten minutes, as if he'd been gut-punched. "You – how – they – "

"I was on the other side for a little while, Peter. Before I chose to come back and take this chance. And I got to see them there. They had a message for you."

_Oh, right. "Go to hell, you stinking traitor." That's all I deserve from them. _"What was it?"

"They said to tell you this was your big chance to make a difference. In a good way, that is. If I understood this right, over there, everyone knows the truth about everyone else, and treats them the way they deserve. In which case, I can't say as you'll get a very warm welcome when you show up. _Unless._"

Sirius let it hang there, maddeningly.

"Unless what?" Peter finally had to say.

"Unless you do something noble," Sirius said, looking directly at him with those disconcerting grey eyes of his, even scarier when they looked pale and slightly see-through. "Something self-sacrificing. Something _good_. And I'd say this counts. Think about it. You deprive Lord Snake-Face of a follower, give the other side back a man they lost." He quirked his eyebrows up for a second. "If you want extra credit, you can even tell us all about his big secret plans before you go. And don't forget the personal aspect of all this."

"Personal aspect?"

"Who have you wronged more than anyone, Wormtail? _Harry._ You took his parents away from him, then as soon as he got something like a parent – me – you kept us apart for the better part of two years. Oh yes, not to mention you helped revive an evil maniac who wants to kill him. And unless you help me, I'm gone for good. Harry needs someone in his life who loves him. He might make it through without me, but I'm willing to bet his chances are better with me."

Someone banged on the door. "Wormtail! Get your sorry arse out here!"

"Coming!" Peter squeaked.

"Oh, yes, just so you know, no one else will see me or hear me," Sirius said with his maddening grin. "So now you know why I'm here, and what I want. I'll give you some time to think about it. But do remember this is a limited-time offer. I'll be back later. Do me a favor and don't scream when you see me – I doubt either of us would like it if Voldie-Wart thought you were deranged. Ta-ta."

He became the great black dog – more gray in this form than black – and vanished through the wall with a bound.

Peter shivered and pinched himself. Nothing changed.

_Ten days. Ten days to make a life and death decision. _

_About _my_ life and death. _

-----

Sirius was sitting in Harry's dorm, watching his godson listlessly try to read.

_He doesn't cry so much when I'm around. I hear him at it when I get in, but as soon as I get here, he cheers up a bit. If you can call it cheery. _

_I don't know, maybe I'm doing him a disservice. Maybe I should forget about this and just go on. I'd be with James and Lily again, and Harry could grieve and get over it. I'm really just prolonging it this way..._

Then he realized what he was doing.

_You're assuming Wormtail will say no. You're assuming you're dead. Well, you are, but you're assuming it's as permanent as everyone thinks it is. You're getting a bad attitude, and that's the thing most likely to lose you this chance. Come on, Padfoot, who besides you ever got a chance to get out of death? Think of the history books. _

_No, forget the history books. Think of Harry. Think about what he'll feel like when you walk in alive. Besides astonished, dumbfounded, and otherwise surprised. You're going to make him the happiest kid in the world. And for him, that's going some._

He sighed. _I just wish so much didn't rest on Wormtail. Awfully shaky shoulders to put my trust on. Little whinger._

Something about that phrase sounded familiar. Sirius frowned, looking over at Harry, who was now actually showing a bit of interest in his book.

_Harry. Something about Harry, and a little whinger..._

_No. Not little whinger. Harry's never been that. No, it's Little Whinging. That's where he lives with the Muggles. Little Whinging, Surrey. _

_Bellatrix said something about "whinging". At the same time as she was talking about "plans" and "wards". _

That settled it. He was going back to Malfoy Manor to do some spying.

Before he left, as he always did, he laid his insubstantial hand gently on top of Harry's head. "See you soon, kid," he said quietly. "In the flesh, I hope."

-----

Although neither Sirius nor Harry knew it, they had an observer in the dorm with them. And that observer knew his duty.

He zoomed invisibly out the door, past the Fat Lady's portrait, through the various stairwells and hallways, and up to a certain gargoyle. "Canary Creams," he cackled, bursting into visibility with a great splash of yellow feathers.

Albus Dumbledore was waiting.

"So, Peeves, any more information on our unexpected visitor?"

"Still watching the Potter boy, Your Headship, sir. Comes every day, he does. And looks familiar, though old Peevesie can't quite make him out. Not a proper ghost, nor a poltergeist for certain, Your Headship, sir. More like someone waiting for something. Someone wanting his second chance."

Dumbledore smiled. "I have a firm belief in second chances, Peeves. It's seen me through thus far, I have no reason to believe it will quit now. Thank you, and please continue to monitor the situation, if you would be so kind."

Peeves bowed and left, dropping a yellow feather or two on Professor McGonagall, who was just entering.

"I don't know what we're going to do, Albus," she said, rubbing her hand across the corner of her mouth. "It seems as if Harry is in denial. I haven't seen him shed a single tear – not one – since the night Sirius died. If he continues this way, he could tear himself apart."

"Patience, Minerva, patience. Let Harry deal with the loss in his own time, as we all must."

"Albus, are you sure?"

"Positive, Minerva. Let matters continue as they are for another, shall we say, ten days. That will give Harry time to return to his aunt and uncle's house and stay there the requisite week. After that, if he has need of help dealing with his emotions, we can provide it."

"I hope you know what you're doing," McGonagall sighed.

"As do I," said Dumbledore with a small smile. "As do I."

-----

(A/N: MAndrews, emikae, and Caprice-Ann HedicanKocur: Here's your update, folks, and thanks for waiting! Hope you enjoy!

Hmmm, should I have Wormtail cave early... or wait until the last second... or not give in at all? Ahh, the possibilities... heh heh heh.)


	4. Decision

Chapter 4: Decision 

Severus Snape shivered, and then wondered why.

_Odd. Under normal circumstances, I do not shiver._

Usually he simply chose to ignore the cold and behave as though the room was a comfortable temperature for him. Besides being practice in the important art of self-control, it was a useful skill for the Potions Master, since chilling the dungeon was a surefire technique for keeping his classes from turning into riots.

_Especially the ones with Potter and Malfoy involved._

But this was something else. The room was a bit chilly, but not nearly enough to pierce his control. Bellatrix and Narcissa were talking quietly at the table, heads bent over a piece of parchment. Neither of them looked at all cold. Wormtail was huddled up in the corner, staring at a piece of wall just beside Snape.

_He's been staring at corners a lot in the last week. As if he expects to see something._

But that was beside the point. The temperature in the room was acceptable, and nothing unsettling was happening.

_Nothing unsettling, besides waiting for the arrival of a temperamental and evil wizard who likes to torture his followers if they don't do exactly what he expects._

Snape ruthlessly suppressed his usual tendency for snide comment making when around the Dark Lord. As a result, his mind worked overtime to come up with really excellent lines that, of course, he couldn't use at the time. Some of his best jabs at Potter had come from unused cracks at Voldemort.

_This is getting me nowhere. _

He jerked his mind back to the subject at hand. It took him a moment to remember what, exactly, was the subject at hand.

_Ah. Yes. I was wondering why I was shivering, given that none of the correct conditions to induce such an act exist. _

Wormtail emitted a series of odd coughing noises which, in any of his students, Snape would have identified as poorly disguised laughter. However, Wormtail was not much given to laughing, so Snape ignored him, turning back to his task of potion labeling.

_He may be ill, or trying to attract my attention for some reason beyond my comprehension. In either case, I am not interested._

-----

Wormtail was not trying to attract Snape's attention – in fact, he was very much hoping to avoid that attention – and he was not ill, at least not physically so. He was, as Snape had surmised but dismissed, attempting to keep himself from laughing aloud, laughter not being a sound often heard at the headquarters of Lord Voldemort.

The ghostly form of Sirius Black was standing beside Severus Snape, peering over his shoulder, making comments about Snape's appearance and intelligence. Most of the comments were incomprehensible to Peter – he supposed they were over his head – so he wasn't laughing at them. What he was fighting to keep from reacting to was the fact that for the past five minutes, Sirius had been giving Snape "bunny ears".

It was a losing battle.

"Let us begin," said the familiar voice of his Master, and all thoughts of laughter were driven from Wormtail's head.

Voldemort seated himself at the head of the long table. The six young people who had followed him into the room took seats along the sides. Four boys, two girls – Wormtail knew Draco Malfoy, the younger Crabbe and Goyle (_is it Vincent and Gregory, _he wondered,_ or Gregory and Vincent? I can never remember_) and Theodore Nott, but neither of the girls was familiar to him. From the way the more attractive one was stroking Draco's arm, though, she was probably his girlfriend. The other girl, more thickset, had tried to get a seat next to the Nott boy, but he had gotten away from her, and she was seated between Crabbe and Goyle, looking grouchy.

"The latest additions to our ranks," Voldemort said, waving a hand towards them. "Young, perhaps, but with scores of their own to settle with Potter and his followers."

"That's my Harry," Sirius said approvingly, floating up to sit cross-legged on the end of the table. "Never takes it when he can dish it out instead."

_Oh no. He's going to stay for the meeting. It was bad enough yesterday when he sat on the ceiling for an hour singing "Kumbaya". How am I going to live through this?_

"They have all sworn allegiance to me, and they are to be treated as full members of our group," Voldemort continued. "Now, Narcissa, you will begin. A full briefing on our latest undertaking for these new Death Eaters."

"Very well, my Lord. Two days from now, at sunset, we attack the property known as Number Four Privet Drive, in the town of Little Whinging in Surrey. The home of Harry Potter."

"No, the _residence_ of Harry Potter," Sirius said with some annoyance. "It's not his home, he hates the place."

Narcissa went on, but Peter was listening to Sirius. _Why would Harry Potter hate his own home?_

"His relatives think he's a freak, they starve him and make him do all the housework. He was willing to leave there and come live with me not even half an hour after he almost tried to kill me." He grinned at Peter. "I'm sure you remember that night, Wormtail."

Peter gave a tiny nod, his mind spinning dazedly. He remembered that night very well. The night when Harry Potter, for some reason Peter had never been able to fathom, had persuaded his old friends to spare his life.

_The boy grew up with what sounds like abuse, and he still pleaded for me? _

_Why?_

His nickname caught his ear. Guiltily, he jerked his attention back to the other end of the table.

"... Wormtail, with Millicent and Vincent, will attack from the southeast."

The thick girl and the Crabbe boy both swiveled their heads to look at him. He had the uncanny feeling they were sizing him up.

"While we have the wards on the house thus fully engaged, and so weakened, the Dark Lord will take the potion Severus Snape has brewed, heightening his blood ties to Potter and allowing him to pass the blood magic wards..."

"Yes, yes, we've heard it all before, death and destruction, thank you very much," Sirius said with a weary sigh. "Come on, get to the good part, I could use a laugh."

"Once the Potter boy is dead, there will be nothing to stop the Dark Lord from rising to power, first in our land, then in many others. He will reign supreme on earth, forever!"

Sirius fell backwards through the table, hooting with laughter, only to reemerge a moment later directly in front of Voldemort. "You're too ugly to live forever," he said in between guffaws. "And too stupid to rule the world. Honestly, Wormtail, I thought even you were smarter than this." He waved a hand in Narcissa's direction. "She sounds like something out of one of those romance novels my mother used to leave lying around. One of the villains, the kind that twist their mustaches and cackle a lot."

He vanished through the table again, but before Peter could even conceive of Narcissa having a mustache, he was back, lying on his stomach about a foot above her head on nothing at all. "No, I take that back. She's not even a villain – she's one of the villain's stupid peons. Every villain has to have really stupid peons working for him, and one of them always messes something up so the good guys can come galloping in and save the day."

_Is that how he thinks of me? As a stupid – whatever-he-called-it?_

_And Harry Potter spared my life, without ever having known mercy himself. _

_This is too much for me. I'm no good at thinking. I need someone to tell me what to do, then I can do it. _

_I guess that means I'm stupid. But I can't help it..._

"Wormtail!"

Peter jumped about a foot. "Y-y-yes, my Lord?"

"Kindly pay attention to the topic under discussion," Voldemort said. "Or I will see to it that you are in no condition to pay attention to anything for some time to come."

Peter nodded fervently. But in his mind, odd things were beginning to happen.

He was beginning to think, as unusual as that was for him, and his thoughts were trending, more and more, towards one conclusion.

_I have a chance to do something good._

_Maybe I should take it._

_After all, what do I have to lose? _

_Only my life... and that's not much. _

_Not the way it is._

-----

When the meeting finally concluded about an hour later, Peter met Sirius' eyes, nodded, and looked upwards. Sirius nodded back, careful to keep his face straight. _He wants to talk. Maybe he's made up his mind... I hope so... _

_And I hope he hasn't made it up to say no!_

"I'll do it," Peter said as soon as he was safely in the room with the door shut.

"You'll do it? Go to the Ministry and through the veil?"

"Yes."

"Excuse me a moment," Sirius said, stepped through the door, and did the patented Padfoot's Mad Jig of Delight.

_YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!_

He came back into the room looking perfectly calm. "When will you go?"

"Now." Peter was fastening on a hooded cloak, smart, Sirius realized, since supposedly he was dead, and therefore his sudden appearance at the Ministry would cause some surprise. "The sooner I go, the sooner it's over with."

"True." Sirius was longing to ask what had brought about this sudden change of mind – Peter had been resisting his blandishments for an extremely long seven days now – but he feared that asking might bring about another change, just as sudden but with results he liked far less.

"I know I can't Apparate directly into the Department of Mysteries," Peter said, sitting down on his bed. "Just into the Atrium. So I'll have to go from there on foot." He groaned, shaking his head. "No, it'll never work. I'll have to get my wand weighed, and someone will see me and realize who I am, or at least that I shouldn't be there..."

"You need a diversion," Sirius said. "Something to take the heat off you."

"You can't do it," said Peter. "You can't touch anything, can you?"

"Nothing physical... wait a second. Try casting some kind of spell."

Peter pulled his wand out and waved it at a book across the room. "_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

The book swayed and rose into the air. Sirius looked at it and _concentrated._

The book fell to the floor. Peter yelped.

"Thought so," Sirius said triumphantly. "I can't affect physical things - but I can mess with magic. There's bound to be something magical there I can screw up."

"If anyone can screw things up, Padfoot, it's you," Peter said, pulling the hood of his cloak up.

"Coming from you, Wormtail, that's rich. I'll see you there."

Sirius took dog form and bounded away as Peter Disapparated.

-----

"This isn't going to work," Peter said behind his newspaper.

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is. Trust me."

"Why?"

"Because I said so. Just get ready."

"Fine."

Sirius walked over to one of the row of Floo fireplaces.

_Have to time it just right, I don't want to hurt anyone..._

A spinning form appeared in one of them. As the short, portly wizard clambered out of the fireplace, Sirius reached out as he had in Peter's room and negated the magic of the Floo powder. The flames instantly turned yellow and caught the man's cloak on fire.

_Hey, bonus points – it's Fudge!_

The Minister of Magic walked nonchalantly across the Atrium.

For about three steps.

Then the screaming began.

Within seconds, everyone in the hall was watching Fudge roll over and over on the floor, trying to put the flames out. Including the wizard on duty at the wand-weighing desk.

Peter walked right through with no trouble.

-----

"Now what?" Sirius said, floating next to Peter in the spinning room.

"Concentrate on the room we need," Peter said.

"And hope there aren't any Unspeakables already there."

Peter nodded. The doors had begun to spin around them, faster, faster, slowing down...

Sirius went through the door before Peter had taken three steps. "This is it!" he called. The stone arena with the archway in its center looked just as he remembered it.

_And I hope it is the _last_ time I ever see it!_

And, for a small miracle, no one else was in the room. Peter would be able to go through the veil unobserved.

_Well, except by me._

He noticed that Peter was sweating quite a bit.

"Are you all right?"

"No, I'm not all right," Peter snapped. "I'm about to kill myself. How all right would you be?"

"You have a point."

"Do Lily and James hate me?" Peter asked abruptly.

Sirius blinked. "You know, they never said... but I got the feeling that hate isn't what they spend much time on, over there. They may be pretty mad at you, but you're doing the best thing you can possibly do right now. I wouldn't be surprised if they at least came to meet you, say hello to you. You were their friend for longer than you weren't. And in time, who knows? You might make up after all."

"Time." Peter laughed nervously. "We'll have lots of time. All of eternity."

"Even James can't hate you for _all _of eternity," Sirius said. "Most of it, probably. But not all. Lily'll talk him around, eventually. Of course, she may be pretty mad in the beginning, too..."

"Better to get it over with quickly, then," Peter said, as resolutely as he could, beginning to walk towards the veil. His shoulders were shaking, but his steps were firm. "Goodbye, Sirius. Please, tell Harry and Remus that I'm sorry for the way everything turned out."

"I think your actions will speak for that, Peter. I have to admit, I always wondered if the old Hat made a mistake, but it seems you're a Gryffindor after all."

"I... I guess I am," Peter said with a small, tentative smile. "I guess this... is a brave thing to do."

"Very brave," Sirius said firmly. "The bravest. Goodbye, Peter, and good luck."

Peter Pettigrew stepped through the veil.

Sirius felt himself pulled through as well. For one timeless moment, he floated in a kind of fog, and just for an instant, as through a curtain, he saw three figures, waving to him... Lily on the left, James on the right, and in the middle, smiling with incredulous joy, Peter...

But before he could wave back, he felt a tremendous jerk behind his navel, and he was catapulted upwards and outwards...

... to land on the floor of the stone arena on his hands and knees, panting as if he'd just run from London to Hogwarts.

_On the floor. I can feel the floor._

_I can feel my breath._

_I'm alive!_

Quickly, he took inventory. His wand was still in his hand, miraculously unbroken in his hard landing – everything he'd had in his pockets was still there – _and I don't particularly need a shave or a shower or anything. _

_But I could sure use one._

_Where should I go? Grimmauld Place may be a bad idea, I could run into Order members, and I don't particularly want to get into long explanations right now. Why don't I hit Moony's place? It's only about 4 o'clock, he never gets back until at least 6... _

_But first I have to get out of here without being caught! I'm still a convicted felon, turn over to nearest Dementor to kiss on sight, here..._

He hit himself in the forehead. Hard.

_You have a wand, idiot. Use it._

Disillusioned, he felt much better.

_Hmmm. Bet you anything they've still got old Kingsley looking for me._

_That gives me an idea..._

-----

Kingsley Shacklebolt came into his cubicle and stopped short, causing Nymphadora Tonks to run into him.

"What's wrong?"

"Whoever you are," Kingsley said with a great deal of annoyance, "get your damn feet off my damn desk."

"Just a damn minute," said the man behind the newspaper, folding it up so that they could see his face.

Tonks screamed. Kingsley stared.

"I thought I fit in nicely with your décor," Sirius Black said cheerily, and Disapparated.

After all the surrounding workers had been reassured that it was only a mouse, only a mouse she was screaming at, Tonks sank weakly into a chair. "It can't have been him. It can't. He's dead."

"Maybe," said Kingsley, his eyes resting on the picture of the Potters' wedding. "But I can tell you this. Dead or not, when I see him next, I'm going to kill him."

Something crackled under his hand. He looked down.

A sheet of parchment, covered in handwriting not his own, looked back at him. It was titled _Attack on Privet Drive Imminent – Warn Dumbledore._

"Tonks, do you know what his handwriting looks like?"

"Sirius'? Yeah. Why?"

_This is going to be an interesting couple of days._

-----

(Well, here it is at long last! Sorry about the wait, but EC has a slot on my schedule now, so it's going to be over pretty soon... I only ever planned it to be about 10 chapters long, maybe not even that. But there's plenty of fun yet to come, don't you worry!

Oh yes, and a random thought: Writing Snape is like writing a Vulcan. A mean Vulcan. (OK, who watches too much Star Trek? Me me me!)

MAndrews: Because I am. What's your novel about?

Caprice-Ann HedicanKocur: Just for you, I sent Wormtail off a whole three days early! I know, you may not agree with me on the redemption aspect, but hey, if freaking Darth Vader can get redeemed, why not our little Petie?

emikae: Love you! You're such a great reviewer! So faithful! And you even like my friend's work! (My friend writes as whydoyouneedtoknow and she says you're really nice and very perceptive. I concur.)

Chapter 5, "Cave Canem", coming soon to a website near you! Hugs and an Astute Fan Award to the first reviewer who tells me what the title means!)


	5. Cave Canem

Chapter 5: Cave Canem

Lord Voldemort was annoyed.

_No, not annoyed. That doesn't sound sinister enough. I do have my reputation to think of, after all. Dark Lords do not get annoyed. Dark Lords... become displeased._

Very well. Lord Voldemort was displeased.

_That sounds better._

There had been some kind of spirit haunting Malfoy Manor for nearly a week and a half. It was not clearly visible to everyone, so it wasn't a ghost, and it hadn't done anything physical or caused any mischief, so it wasn't a poltergeist. There were several rather hazy classes of spiritual beings it could have been, but one rule generally applied to all of them: Ignore it and it will eventually go away.

So he had ignored it, even when it began to become apparent to some of his followers, even to a talentless little snip like Wormtail.

Who was currently missing.

Nothing in his room had been taken, except his cloak, so it seemed unlikely that he'd run off. There was no sign of a struggle, no sound had been heard, so kidnapping also seemed doubtful, besides being ludicrous. If anyone could break into the headquarters of Voldemort and the Death Eaters, they would be powerful enough to challenge the Dark Lord himself, instead of being satisfied with an underling.

_Especially such an underling as Wormtail. He brought me what I needed in the past, but perhaps he has outlived his usefulness..._

Of course, if he didn't return, it was a moot point.

Could the little sneak have deserted, turning informer to Dumbledore and his fools?

_He turned his coat once. He might do it again._

To be on the safe side, Voldemort decided, he should act as if Wormtail had gone over to the enemy.

_Which means changing every plan he knew about. Including the attack on Privet Drive._

He waved his wand, incanting "_Morsmordre Arcesso!_" and tiny copies of the Dark Mark darted in every direction, seeking his followers, to tell them they were wanted.

When they were all gathered, he told them his conclusions, and his decision.

"We will attack, not at sunset, but at dawn of that day. Change your plans accordingly."

He noticed Severus looking a bit jumpy and made a mental note to keep the man by his side for the next two days and monitor where and to whom he tried to send owls or firecall.

_A perfect opportunity to see where his loyalties really lie._

Yes, even without Wormtail, this could still prove to be a successful venture, in more ways than one...

-----

_There are days I wish my Animagus form wasn't quite so noticeable._

Sirius was attracting something of a crowd as he wandered through London. He wasn't lost, exactly, but he was looking for something, or rather someone, who moved around a lot from day to day, even within days. Someone who might not even be on the street at all, but down in the Underground.

_I always wonder if Muggles can even read. They put up all these signs telling you what you're not allowed to do, and then people go right ahead and ignore them._

He stopped to listen. A stray breeze was bringing him sounds and scents from a tiny park ahead.

_Ah-ha!_

He had found what he was looking for. The melancholy wail of a violin, combined with the musky scent of a werewolf.

_Only one combination like that in London. Remus Lupin, street busker._

Carefully, he circled the park, peering in from every direction. Finally he spotted his target. Remus was standing near a fountain, looking properly tragic for the piece he was playing, which was full of long, sighing notes and upward runs that never quite seemed to be completed properly.

_He looks terrible. Must have been full moon recently._

Sirius kicked himself mentally. _Or, just maybe, he's been grieving, you stupid mutt?_

He circled again to come in behind Remus and get a closer look without his friend noticing him. Remus' violin case, open at his feet, contained a scattering of coins and two or three bills, but most of the people walking through the park passed him by with no more than a glance.

_Maybe I can change that..._

-----

Remus finished his piece and sighed quietly as his tiny audience applauded.

_God, Sirius, I miss you so much._

A little girl dropped a few coins into his case and offered him a shy smile. He smiled back – her charm was contagious._ All right, Moony, you've had your wallow in self-pity. Time to make a living. Play something cheerful, people always like that._

He started on a fast, rather bouncy piece, forcing himself to keep the music light.

The little girl clapped her hands. "Mummy, Mummy, look at the dancing dog!"

It took every bit of self-control Remus had ever learned not to whip around immediately. His musician's discipline saved the day initially, commanding him not to stop in the middle of the song, and his common sense took over from there.

_So there's a dancing dog. Big deal. Probably some little lap dog on a leash, bouncing around on its hind legs. Besides, if it wants to dance, let it – people will come to look, and I might get a better take than usual._

People were certainly coming to look. Already his audience was double what it had been, and as every good busker knew, crowds attract more crowds.

_Human beings are always afraid they're missing out on something. So they stop to see what everyone else is seeing._

On a whim, he began to play a little faster, and the crowd gasped and ooh'ed as the dog apparently sped up to match. Remus smiled to himself and increased the speed again. Faster and faster he played, speeding towards the end of the piece, which he reached in record time, with a flourish and a bow.

The crowd broke into applause, and many of them came forward to toss money into the case. Remus nodded and smiled at them all, accepting compliments on his "well-trained animal" and "such a handsome dog". The little girl asked if she could pet it.

"Well, let's see if he'll let you," Remus said, finally turning around.

The dog sitting on the ground panting was a dead ringer for Padfoot.

_Dead is right,_ Remus reminded himself sternly, controlling his insane urge to embrace the creature. _Dead and not coming back, no matter what you want._

He cautiously approached the animal. His dual nature made him unusually sensitive to canine troubles, but he wasn't sensing any disease or problems coming from it. It accepted his pat on the head with good grace.

"Yes, I think you can pet him," Remus said to the little girl, who giggled and hurried forward to stroke the dog on the head, then scratch him behind the ears, causing him to go cross-eyed with bliss.

_His eyes. Oh, my God, his eyes._

_There's no such thing as a gray-eyed dog._

The dog gave him the dopey tongue-lolling grin Sirius always used to pull when he had just done something extremely clever. Then it loped away through the park, leaving Remus severely confused and, for the first time in nearly two weeks, feeling a trace of hope.

_It could be just a fluke,_ he reminded himself. _It could be a coincidence. Odd quirks of coloration do happen... it's not totally inconceivable for a normal dog to have gray eyes. Just highly unusual._

But his heart wasn't listening, and it was suddenly easier to play the lighter side of his repertoire with the proper feeling than it had been for a long time.

-----

Albus Dumbledore sighed, leaning against the center pole of the revolving staircase that led to his office in a display of the weakness he could never show in public.

_Everyone assumes I'm immortal and infallible, when the truth is I'm just old and sneaky._

The problem with Harry Potter wasn't going to go away, no matter what he had told Minerva. The boy was going to grieve himself into a decline unless they could stop it. Worse, according to the owl he'd just received from Kingsley, they would either have to remove him from Privet Drive too early for the blood protection there to be renewed for another year, or defend it against an all-out attack. Either way, lives would be lost.

_More lives_, he corrected himself, thinking of Sirius with a twinge of pain. _Of all the people we could have lost, he had to be the person Harry loved. Hasn't the boy suffered enough?_

_But I thought there might be some hope. _He had been studying all the information available on the archway, and there was an ancient story, so old it could not be authenticated, of a man who was redeemed from beyond the veil by the sacrifice of another...

The staircase stopped. He stepped off it onto the landing.

_I had hoped the manifestation reported by Peeves might be that of Sirius. Its preoccupation with Harry made that possible, even likely. But the sacrifice had to be made by someone who owed the man beyond the veil his life. Since only one person in this world fits that description, and that one is unlikely to be willing to make such a sacrifice..._

He opened the door to his office.

Fawkes chirped in welcome and flew to greet him. "You seem happy," Dumbledore said to his phoenix.

Fawkes trilled an affirmative and pecked one of Dumbledore's shoulders lightly. Used to the phoenix's signals, Dumbledore turned in the direction indicated.

One of his locating devices, which had been silent and still for eleven full days, was alight and vibrating once more.

Dumbledore smiled, feeling a load lift from his shoulders.

"Mercy even for Pooh-Bah," he said softly to himself, and went to his desk to write an important letter.

-----

_Moony should really change the password on his door more often. Especially now that Harry and his friends know how to work the Map._

But the same words opened the door of the small apartment that had done so fifteen years ago, when Remus had first moved in. Sirius took a look around. Not much had changed. The furniture was a bit shabbier, the carpet a little more faded, but overall it had the feel of a settled bachelor pad.

_Eat first, or shower first?_

_Eat,_ he decided. _I may have been in suspended animation, but I still feel as if I haven't eaten for a week!_

Three sandwiches and a butterbeer later, he felt decidedly better. He cleaned up after himself, then headed for the bathroom.

_Wonder where he keeps the clean towels?_

-----

Remus climbed the three flights of stairs in a far better mood than he had descended them that morning. He had made so much thanks to the mysterious dog that he had decided to come home early.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said to his door, which swung open for him and closed itself behind him once he had entered.

_I could use a shower – today was fairly warm, and I'm not sure I took one this morning._ He went into his bedroom and began to undress, wrapping his bath towel around his waist.

Then he noticed something decidedly odd. Water was already running in the bathroom.

_There's someone in here. Someone in my apartment._

_Someone is taking a shower in my apartment._

He frowned. _Who breaks into an apartment to take a shower? _

_And how could anyone get in? The door can't be forced, it only opens with the password... and I didn't think anyone else knew my password now._

_Something is very strange here._

Taking his wand off the dresser, he went to the bathroom door.

_Might as well try the polite way first._ He knocked.

"Be out in a minute!" called a voice. A male voice. And a male voice he knew.

_This is impossible. It has to be some kind of trick._

"_Alohomora!_"

The door swung open. The water shut off. A dark head poked itself out of the shower stall. "Geez, Moony, I said I'd be out in a minute. Do you have to go that bad?"

Remus quickly leaned against the wall, to preserve his balance, his sanity, and his dignity (his towel was slipping). _It can't be him. It can't be._

_And I'm not going to say it. I won't give him the satisfaction._

_Oh damn. Yes I am. I can't help it..._

"You _cannot_ be Sirius."

-----

_That is the most perfect straight line I have ever heard. If I didn't know better, I'd think I'd made a wrong turn somewhere and gone back to heaven. _

"Want to bet?" Sirius grinned at his friend.

Remus rubbed his eyes with the hand that wasn't holding his wand, then continued staring at Sirius. "So prove it."

"The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at number 12, Grimmauld Place, London," Sirius recited in a sing-songy tone. "And incidentally, you look terrible."

"That tends to happen when my friends die," Remus said dryly. "Care to explain?"

"I'd like to get dressed first, if you don't mind. It's a long story."

"I'm not going anywhere," Remus said as Sirius pushed the door closed.

_Nowhere except down. I would be willing to bet money that he's going to faint, or at the very least fall over, now that there's no one watching him..._

There was a thump from beyond the door.

_I win._

_This is turning out to be a pretty good day after all._

-----

(A/N: Wow, I've never had so many people worried about whether or not a story will continue! Let me make it clear. When I finish a story, I put a big "THE END" sign below the last line. Then I put a "COMPLETE" sign on the summary. Neither of those things has happened to EC yet, therefore it is still being written, and it will continue to be written until those two things happen. Thank you.

Any Resonance readers, what is Remus playing when Sirius finds him? And can anyone tell me the source of Dumbledore's quote when he sees Sirius' locator working again?

blueJosh: No, no more Peter. Just Sirius and how he, and the world, adjust to his return.

blackpaws22: Thanks!

MAndrews: Yes, isn't that a great image?

emikae: Rambling is fine, as long as it's at least tangentially story-related... thanks!

RunningInCircles: Thanks!

blah: Humph. ::sticks out tongue:: Remus was drunk, under emotional stress, and thinking of Sirius at the time. As for Voldie, see above. Darn you people who make me rationalize my story decisions! Thanks for compliment!

vindicated16: Here you are!

Hugs to all reviewers! Give yourselves a pat on the back from me!)


	6. Dudley Gets His Way

Chapter 6: Dudley Gets His Way

Remus picked himself up off the floor and took a few deep breaths, leaning against the wall. _I need to focus. I need to relax._

Easier thought than done.

_What is Sirius Black doing in my shower stall?!_

_Taking a shower, of course, _said the obnoxiously literal part of his mind.

_He's supposed to be dead! Dead people don't take showers!_

Luckily for his sanity, there was an interruption at this point. A burst of fire made him jump as Fawkes arrived in his room, dropped a letter at his feet, and vanished again.

_Knowing Dumbledore, this contains instructions on how to handle the unusual situation currently unfolding in my bathroom..._

He picked it up and opened it.

_Remus,_

_At some point in the near future, if it has not already happened, I believe that you will have an encounter with an old friend. He is truly who he appears to be, so greet him as such, and please bring him and yourself, at your earliest convenience, to Headquarters. We have an attack to avert._

_A.D._

Remus read it over twice, then allowed himself to fall backward onto his bed.

_He's for real. _

_It's really Sirius. _

_He managed to cheat death somehow._

_And he's in my bathroom._

He cocked an ear. The sound of running water had stopped. _But in a moment, he'll be out of my bathroom. _

_And somehow, I think I want to hear this story more than I want a shower._

He got dressed again, finishing just as Sirius came out of the bathroom, toweling off his hair.

"I hope you didn't go dog and shake in there, I'll never get it dry if you did," Remus said half-jokingly.

"No, I stayed human," Sirius said. "How have you been, Moony?"

"Terrible," Remus said flatly. "But enough about me. Spill, Padfoot. Where were you, how did you get back, and what is it going to cost you?"

"Where was I? Well, for most of the time, I was here... sort of. I got back the same way I left, through the veil. And it didn't cost me anything... someone else paid, this time."

Sirius was silent for a moment, staring at the ceiling. Finally Remus couldn't take it any more. "You know, Padfoot, there are days when you are without a doubt the most annoying little pile of doggy-doo I have ever met. If you don't tell me the whole story, now, I swear that I will bite you without waiting for a full moon!"

"All right, all right, you don't have to yell!" Sirius ran his hands through his hair. "It was Peter, Remus. Peter went through the veil for me. Lord Snake-Face is down one rat."

_I can freak out later. _"Peter's dead, then?"

"Yes. Probably the best thing he's ever done. He said to tell you he was sorry.  Oh, yes, and James and Lily send their best."

_On the other hand, now might be good... _"You _saw_ them?"

"Saw them, talked with them a little. Twice, actually. And I learned something very interesting." Sirius fixed Remus with a glare. "Seems I was wrong about who slipped me the firewhiskey back in sixth year. The time I got caught by McGonagall. Remember?"

Remus put his head in his hands. _Now I know it's Sirius. He comes back from the dead, and the most interesting thing he's learned is who pranked him almost twenty years ago. _

_Wait a second..._ "How did you find that out? I never told anyone..."

"_You_ told me," Sirius said with a look of immense satisfaction. "The night I – supposedly – died. You were drunk out of your mind, staggering around in here and talking to yourself – or so you thought. I was here."

"I do remember that. Sort of." Remus closed his eyes and thought back. "I thought I heard your voice, so I talked with you for a while, and then I passed out on the bed... I remember waking up at one point convinced Lily and James were there..."

"They were," Sirius said quietly. "That was the second time I saw them."

_Well, this day isn't surreal or anything. I'm just talking to a friend who I thought was dead, and he's just given me the good wishes of two friends who have been dead for fifteen years. Nope, just another normal day in the life of Remus Lupin._

_You really have to lay off the sarcasm, Moony. It's not good for you._

_Oh, shut up._

"Are you arguing with yourself again?" Sirius asked.

"Yes."

"You should really stop that. It's not good for you."

"Oh, shut up..."

_Ah-ha! I always wondered who my irrational side sounded like! _

_I do not sound like that overgrown mutt!_

_Oh, yes, you do._

_Oh, no, I don't._

_Oh, yes, you do, and that's final. I'm busy._ "So, tell me more. If you can."

Sirius could and did. Within half an hour, Remus had a good picture of the last eleven days from Sirius' perspective.

"How's Harry?" Sirius asked. "I haven't checked on him for a while, I was really concentrating hard on Peter the last few days. Is he all right?"

"I'm not sure. He's back with the Dursleys – we put the fear of magic into them so I doubt they'll do anything too bad to him – but he's got to be awfully broken up. You meant a lot to him, Padfoot. More than any of us did." Remus said it matter-of-factly, but the truth hurt a bit. _Harry likes me well enough, but he loved Sirius. Loves him, now. Only he doesn't know that yet._

"Well, in that case, I'd better get to him as quickly as I can," Sirius said, standing up. "He's not too far from here, I can Apparate right over."

"No, you don't," Remus countered, also standing up. "Orders from Dumbledore. We have to get to Headquarters to plan how to avert this attack you reported."

"Look, Moony, I just came back from the dead and I want to see my godson. Cut me a little slack, ok? You go to Headquarters. Ask Dumbledore what he's talking about, make like I never showed up here, act all surprised when he tells you. Come on, please? Cover for me, just this once?"

Remus hesitated, and Sirius played his trump card. "Harry needs me, you know."

_Damn you. Yes, I do know._ "All right, Padfoot, you win. I haven't seen you, I don't know anything about you... except that you're the luckiest SOB around..."

"With a mother like mine, you can say that again," Sirius joked. "How did the old hag take it, by the way?"

"Something about 'it's only what he deserves, the filthy traitor,' et cetera, et cetera."

"No surprises there. Well, see you later, Moony. I have a godson to find."

With a casual wave, Sirius Disapparated.

"And, as usual, I get stuck holding the bag," Remus said to thin air. "How am I supposed to lie to Dumbledore?"

He sighed.

_Now I _really_ need a shower._

-----

Draco Malfoy was enjoying himself. It was gloriously exciting, his dream come true, to be given the role and responsibility of a full Death Eater. He wished he could have the Dark Mark, to show the world where he really belonged and who he was good enough to be with, but he needed to finish school, and Dumbledore would have him thrown out on his ear if he showed up at school with the Mark on his arm.

_Or would he? Maybe he'd try to convert me._ Draco snorted. _I'll turn to the light when trolls learn to think, not before. Get back to me then, you old Muggle-loving idiot. _

_Besides, if this goes the way we want it to, I can take the Mark any time I want to. Any time after the day after tomorrow. _

To have his first mission be to help the Dark Lord crush Harry Potter... ah, the ecstasy. The Dark Lord had even promised that he, Draco, could have a shot at torturing Potter before the Dark Lord killed him. Potter was finally going to pay for five years of insults, slanders, and humiliations.

_I'll teach him to make fun of my father,_ Draco thought, carefully arranging his hair in front of the mirror. _I'll make him say my father is a god, and his was a worm, before I finish with him. _

_No more than the truth, really. The Potters may be an old family, but what kind of wizard would have married trash like that Mudblood Evans woman? Whereas my bloodlines are the best in Britain. Macmillan thinks he has something to brag about in nine generations of wizarding ancestors? Oh, please. Any self-respecting pure-blood child would know twelve's the magic number._ He smiled at his reflection. _Pun intended. I just love me._

But something was bothering him. Oh, of course. Wormtail. What was the story with Wormtail? Had he really deserted, or was there something else up? He'd been awfully strange for the four days Draco had been home, even for him. Staring at corners, making funny little noises.

_Of course, Crabbe and Goyle aren't much better since we got back. Honestly, you'd think they'd never been hexed before..._

It was the wrong trend of thought. His mind flew back to the Hogwarts Express and the horror of being caught in a hailstorm of hexes where there should have been nothing – he hadn't even been able to turn around before he collapsed. Then the indignity of being unable to make any kind of coherent movement, being unable to see or speak, feeling himself being lifted up and shoved into what he knew must be the luggage rack, and hearing bouts of hysterical laughter. The laughter of Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors.

They had been laughing at him! Him, a Malfoy, the only heir to the Malfoy line and fortune!

_No one laughs at a Malfoy and gets away with it,_ Draco vowed. _No one._

_And Potter will pay first of all. And worst. _

_He'll pay with his life. _

_At dawn, two days from now, Harry Potter dies._

-----

Sirius Apparated in Arabella Figg's front yard, immediately turned dog, and hid behind the nearest hedge as Arabella opened the front door to see what the noise had been.

_I really shouldn't have done that. What if there had been Muggles nearby? Have to be a bit more careful, Padfoot. You're so close, don't blow it now. Better walk from here._

He started scenting, trying to pick up a trace of Harry. But either it had rained here recently, or Harry hadn't been by in a while. There was nothing.

_All right. So I start walking. I know she lives pretty close to him. How hard can it be to find Privet Drive?_

-----

Fifteen minutes later...

_All right. Harder than I thought._

His pads hurt. Staying indoors for nearly a year had made his feet pretty soft, and that transferred into his dog form like everything else did. He wasn't used to going barefoot along pavement, and it showed. _I think I'll look into shoes for dogs. Must be a market in that somewhere._

He wished he could ask for directions, but he knew there was a chance someone would recognize him – he was, after all, still a wanted man, in the Muggle as well as the magical worlds. _And I have no desire to get myself hauled in by either set of law enforcement. No. Canine I stay._

Just as he thought that, he got his first whiff of a familiar, dearly beloved scent.

_Harry! I must be getting closer!_

Intent on his target, moving ever faster, Sirius was unaware of the van cruising along the street just behind him...

-----

Harry Potter lay on his bed, eyes closed, trying to clear his mind. He wasn't really expecting much success, but even Occlumency practice beat listening to Dudley whine. His cousin had come up with something new to ask for, something that even Aunt Petunia couldn't instantly find ten reasons that he should be allowed to have.

Dudley wanted a dog.

Not a small dog, either – no, Dudley wanted a large, fierce dog, a dog that he could train to attack on command. He also thought it would be cool if the dog was black, since no one would be able to see it coming at night. So, of course, every time Dudley started asking again, Harry was reminded of Sirius, and he had to get out of the room fast before the Dursleys could see him cry.

Dudley didn't know why Harry ran out of the room every time he mentioned a dog, but he liked the phenomenon, so he had been whining almost non-stop for the four days Harry had been back. Also, since Aunt Petunia hated animals in the house so much, the battle was pitched and prolonged, unlike most of Dudley's whine wars, in which the other side capitulated at the first shot.

"Now, Dudders, don't you remember what that bulldog of your aunt's did to your father the last time it was here? Don't you remember how terribly he was hurt? Do you want him to suffer that every day?"

Harry groaned and burrowed his head under his pillow, but even that didn't stop Dudley's voice.

"But Mum, I'd train him. He wouldn't do that. He'd only bite burglars. Or those freaks Potter's friends with. He could scare them off. He could protect me from those menty-things Potter tried to scare me with last year. A dog would keep me safe, Mum. Please? Please, please, can I get one?"

_He actually thinks a dog could stop dementors? Or wizards? He's such an idiot. _

_But I knew that._

The voices from downstairs were quieter now. Today's battle, Harry devoutly hoped, had been completed.

The house shook as Dudley flung himself up the stairs. "Hoy, Potter!" he yelled. "We're going to the pound tomorrow. To look at dogs. And I'll get a nice, big, mean one that doesn't like you!"

Dudley's door slammed, and Harry curled up on his side and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep the tears from falling.

_I wish Sirius was here. Or that I felt like he was, the way I did at school sometimes. I felt as if he was right beside me, sitting on my bed, talking to me. _

_Only he wasn't. And he never will be again._

Tears of frustration and sorrow trailed down Harry's face and spotted the coverlet.

_So tomorrow, Dudley gets a dog. Can this summer possibly go any better?_

-----

Sirius broke into a run. He was close, so close, he could smell Harry clearly...

That was when something sharp hit him from behind.

_OW! What was that?_

He tried to turn around, but the affected part of his anatomy turned with him. All he succeeded in doing was bringing a large van into view. A van with people getting out of it. People in uniform.

And suddenly he felt dizzy and sleepy...

_This can't be good._

He squinted at the van.

_I can't see straight... what does that say?_

The letters came into focus. If he had been human, he would have sworn.

_That's what I thought. _

He slipped and fell onto his side, unable to stand upright any longer.

_Damn it!_

A woman bent over him, saying something about "taking effect..."

_Curse you, Animal Control!_

Sirius slipped into darkness.

-----

(A/N: I guess, technically, this is a cliffhanger... but if you can't figure out what's going to happen... ::tee::

Thanks to MAndrews, CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur, and blueJosh. To emikae, also thanks, but a question: What are you doing on your knees?

Afraid I may not update on time this Saturday... sorry, everyone! As soon as possible, I promise!)


	7. Reunion

Chapter 7: Reunion

The first thing Sirius was aware of was that his mouth was dry. The second, that his backside hurt. And the third, that he was lying on his side on a very cold floor.

_In dog form. Which I had better maintain. No telling who's nearby._

He opened his eyes slowly, resisting the urge to moan, or whine, as the bright sunlight of morning made itself known to him.

_Oh, damn, not bars again._

He was, unmistakably, caged.

_At the... ounce? Is that what they call it? No, the pound. Where they send stray animals. And, eventually, kill them, if they don't get claimed or adopted._

_Well, not my problem. All I have to do is wait until no one's watching and Apparate out. And this time, I'm going straight to Harry's house._

A door at the end of the long room full of cages opened. "Right this way, ma'am, sir," a voice said.

_Family coming to look at possible pets, I guess._

A teenage boy thundered into his line of sight – quite possibly the fattest boy he had ever seen – and stopped directly in front of his cage. "Cool, Dad, lookit this one!"

"_This one" isn't interested, brat. Back off._ Sirius considered showing his teeth, but decided against it. _No need to make them think I'm vicious. _

_But why does that boy look familiar?_

The boy's father and mother followed him, and Sirius had to bite back a yelp as he recognized the woman.

_Petunia! _

_Lily's sister! _

_Merlin on a broomstick – that means..._

_Well, maybe I'm a little more interested than I thought I was._

He sat up and allowed his tongue to hang out in his "adorable" pose.

"We just found that one yesterday," said the uniformed man who had let them in. "Not even sure if he's housetrained or not. But he seems tractable. You could try giving him a command."

"Down!" the boy – _Dudley, that's his name­_ – ordered, and Sirius sank obediently to the floor. "Stand!"

"Sit!"

"Roll over!"

Sirius obeyed every one.

"Can we get this one, Mum, please, please? He's gotta be trained, lookit how well he does tricks. Pleeeease?"

_Aren't you too old to be whining like that?_

"Well..." Petunia Dursley hesitated. "Vernon?"

"I've been wanting a dog for years, Petunia, you know that. This one looks healthy, and he's obedient. I say we take him. Give Dudley something to do over the summer."

"All right, we'll take him."

"Very well," said the uniformed man, making some notes on a chart. "You'll have to get him to the veterinarian within a week to get him up to date on his shots. And he needs a collar and lead – do you have them? If not, we can take care of that for a nominal fee..."

Sirius tuned out in the interest of making his plan.

_They'll take me home. When Dudley gets tired of playing with me, I'll go find Harry, and we'll get out of here. Wonder if I'm strong enough to Apparate us both? _

Apparating with and for another person was dangerous and not recommended, especially someone close to the Apparater's own size. A small child, who could be held in the arms, was far easier to Apparate with than someone Harry's age.

_If not, we'll go to Arabella's house, she has a Floo hookup. Either way, Harry's not spending any more time in that house. The blood magic's been compromised, so there's no reason for him to stay. We'll go home together, and I swear I'm never letting him out of my sight again. _

The door of the cage opened, and the uniformed man reached warily in to put a collar on Sirius. He didn't fight it.

_Staying with him might be difficult when he goes back to school, of course..._

The man handed the lead to Dudley, and Sirius followed the fat boy docilely out into the room, through the door, and out to the car, where he jumped into the back seat and lay down.

_No, wait. There's no reason Harry can't have a dog at Hogwarts, is there? Especially an intelligent dog, one that can use the loo so it doesn't have to go out... _

_That's it, that's what I can do for the Order! I can be Harry's permanent bodyguard – there's no doubt he needs one, now that Lord Riddle-Me-This is back. I'll be the Gryffindor Tower pet, all the girls will love me, and I'll scare the daylights out of the ferret-boy every time I see him. James did ask me to bite him, after all._

Pleased with his idea, he dog-grinned. This not only made him look utterly lovable, it augmented his already quite good sense of smell. The car was fairly new, probably company-issued. Vernon and Dudley smelled of fat and good living and self-satisfaction. Petunia was acrid and just a touch worried about something.

And there was another smell as well, of a person not present.

_Harry. And he wasn't happy when he was last in this car._

The scents of grief and confusion figured prominently in the lingering odor of his godson.

_It was a few days ago. Four or five, I'd guess. _

_I hope he's all right._

The car pulled up outside the Dursley house. "Let him use the yard before you bring him in, Duddy dear," Petunia said. "And I'll get the Potter boy to pick up after him."

_Why should Harry have to pick up after me if I'm supposed to be Dudley's dog?_ Sirius shook his head, making his collar tags jingle. _These people do not make sense._

Still, he did have to go...

Business done, Sirius allowed himself to be led up to the front door. The smell of Harry was almost overwhelming. He had to keep concentrating on his role so as not to transform into a human and rush off in search of his godson.

_Besides, I can't transform right now. I'd choke on the collar. Have to get someone – Harry, probably – to take it off me before I can retransform._

"Hey, Potter!" Dudley yelled. "C'mon down and see what I got!"

A door at the top of the stairs opened, and Sirius had to clamp down on himself hard not to pull the lead out of Dudley's hand and charge up the steps. _Dudley's dog,_ he reminded himself. _Dudley's dog, nothing else._

But it was hard, it was so hard, to see Harry's face and not go to him, especially when he noticed tear-tracks on Harry's cheeks, and saw that he looked thin, thinner than usual, as if he hadn't been eating...

"Nice," Harry said shortly, trying to smile. "What's his name?"

"Doesn't have one. Why, you wanna name him?"

"I have an idea," Harry said, sitting down on the top step. "You could call him Padfoot. He looks like one."

"What's a Padfoot?"

"A big black spirit dog," Harry said quietly. "If you see one, you die within a day."

His lips formed silent words that only Sirius caught.

_Like I wish I could..._

Sirius whined, wanting, desperately, to go to Harry, to comfort him. But his training in secrecy, and the choke collar around his neck, won out.

_Just hold on a little longer, Harry. I'm here, and I love you. _

_Please, don't do anything stupid. _

_Not when we're so close._

"So it makes people die? Cool! Thanks, Potter!" Dudley yanked on the lead. "Come on, Padfoot. I'm gonna teach you to attack things!"

_I know what I'd _like_ to attack. _

_And it happens to be holding the other end of this lead..._

-----

"No word from Snape about this?" Bill Weasley asked around the kitchen table at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

"None." Albus Dumbledore shook his head. "Of course, with such a major attack imminent, Voldemort may have decided to keep a closer watch than usual on Severus, to test his loyalty. I have sent him a coded owl, telling him that we know of the attack, but there has been no reply."

Tonks gasped. Dumbledore held up a hand. "It could mean any number of things, Nymphadora – that he never received it, that he is unable to reply, or that a reply is not necessary, because we know the facts of the matter already. Whatever the reason, I doubt we can expect any information from him before this battle is over."

"So, tomorrow night," Kingsley Shacklebolt said. "We should be in place by five o'clock at the latest – earlier would be better. Are we expecting Sirius to join us, or not?"

"I am afraid I do not know, since he has not bothered to communicate with us." Dumbledore's voice was light, but his eyes fixed for just a moment on Remus Lupin.

When Dumbledore looked elsewhere, Lupin slumped in his chair. _Damn it, he knows – I'm sure he knows. He's a Legilimens, he must know I'm lying. But he hasn't called me on it. Why?_

There was only one answer. _He knows Sirius was at my flat, he knows Sirius left, and he knows where Sirius went. And he approves._

_In which case, I don't think he would be too surprised to see Sirius and Harry walk in the front door or come out of the fireplace any minute now._

_Of course, almost nothing surprises Dumbledore..._

"The blood magic wards must be reestablished elsewhere," Dumbledore was saying. "Harry, it goes without saying, is the highest priority. After him, protect the entire family, but Petunia and Dudley Dursley especially. If – " His face was regretful. "If the decision becomes necessary, save Petunia before her son. She shares more blood with Harry. The wards will be easier to establish with her."

_He hates this, talking about people as if they're things and saying who must live and who must die. I know he does._

_But war makes us all do things we hate._

-----

Since the Dursleys didn't have any dog food on hand, Sirius got to have the same thing they were having for dinner. Of course, he had to eat on the floor, but it was still pretty good.

Harry, he noticed, wasn't eating. At all. He was stirring the food around so it would look like he was, but he hadn't actually put anything into his mouth.

_Have to get him to stop doing that. One of these days I'm going to die for real, or someone else is, and he's going to have to keep going. He should know that already..._

_But I guess that's another thing his relatives never taught him. Taking care of himself._

Another thing occurred to him. _I wonder if they always treat him like this? Calling him by his last name, making him do the work, ignoring him, or in Dudley's case, being ready to beat up on him?_

Sirius' "training" had consisted of Dudley trying to goad him into attacking a pillow with a crude representation of Harry's face drawn on one end. He had done it after a while, if only to get Dudley to stop yelling at him.

_If this is all he's ever known, no wonder he was so ready to come with me. I was actually showing him affection, love even. Other than the Weasleys, I don't think he had anyone who really cared about him. Not until me._

_And then I died. No wonder he's broken up._

_Well, I'm back now, and I'm going to make up for lost time, if he'll let me..._

"Please may I be excused?" Harry mumbled.

"All right, go on, boy, I'll do the washing-up tonight," his aunt said.

Harry pushed his chair back and almost bolted up the stairs. Sirius got up and started to follow him into the hall.

"Padfoot, come!" Dudley yelled.

Hating himself for doing it, Sirius returned to the kitchen and sat next to Dudley's chair.

"Good dog," Dudley said with a pleased smile, and held out a piece of pork chop. "Here you go, boy."

Sirius gulped it down, ignoring his insane urge to take a piece out of Dudley's hand instead.

_He'll lose interest soon. He'll go do something else. Then I can go to Harry._

-----

About an hour later, Sirius' opportunity finally came. Dudley, in his bedroom, was absorbed in some game on his compluter thing – no, a com_pu_ter, Sirius corrected himself, remembering the clerk on the other side of the veil correcting him in the same way.

_That reminds me. Messages for Harry. An apology from Peter – save that for later – love from James and Lily, James apologized to Snape about the pantsing, Harry's better than James was on a broom, and Cedric Diggory doesn't blame him. I think that's all._

_Time to go._

He got up and pushed the door open with his nose. Dudley never even noticed.

Down the hall Sirius went, only to be blocked at the other end by a detail. One tiny, insignificant detail.

Harry's room had a doorknob, not a handle. And he couldn't turn a knob without hands.

_Dammit! _Sirius thumped his head against the door in frustration.

"Come in," Harry's voice called hoarsely.

_Hey, there's an idea._ Sirius pawed the door and whined.

After a moment, it opened.

_Yes!_

Harry stood in the doorway, his face tear-lined again. "Hey, boy," he said softly, kneeling and holding out his hand, palm down and fingers slightly curled. "I like you, even if you do belong to Dudley. Want to be friends?"

_You have no idea how much._ Sirius sniffed the offered hand, then play-bowed in acceptance.

Harry smiled, a bit hesitantly, as if he wasn't used to it any more. "Come on in, then," he said, stepping aside.

Sirius walked into the bedroom and took a look around. It looked much like any other teen wizard's room – messy. _Like mine when I was that age. And James'. Remus was the neat one, and that's not saying much._

Harry flopped on his bed, face down, letting his legs dangle from one side and his head off the other. Sirius came around and solemnly gave his godson's face one enormous lick.

"Hey, don't do that," Harry protested with a tiny laugh, wiping his chin with his sleeve. Sirius lay down and regarded the boy, feeling his heart fill with love, as he did every time he saw Harry. _You're such a great kid. Your parents would be – they _are_ – so proud. _

_Now I just need a chance to tell you that._

"You know why I named you Padfoot?" Harry said into the silence. "You remind me of someone I knew. A human being, usually, but he could turn into a dog. A dog that looked a lot like you, actually. And his nickname was Padfoot. His real name was Sirius. Sirius Black. He was my godfather."

Loving someone, Sirius discovered, meant you really, really hated it when they cried.

He jumped up on the bed and started licking Harry's face, whining. _Don't cry for me, Harry. I'm here. And if I can just get you to take this collar off me, I'll prove it. But first you have to settle down._

"Oy, quit that," Harry protested, trying to push Sirius away from him. "Yuck." He wiped his face with his hand, then, for lack of anything better, dried his hand on Sirius' fur. "Are you trying to get me to stop crying?"

Sirius thought of nodding, then decided against it. _Better not scare him._ Instead, he whimpered and pawed at his collar.

"You want me to scratch you?" Harry obliged, scratching what Sirius suddenly found to be a fierce itch, precisely under the collar. "You know, this thing looks too tight for you."

_That's a boy, Harry. Now move on from that thought._

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take it off you," Harry mused. "Just while you're here. Have to put it back on as soon as you go out, but no reason not to let you have it off for a while in here..."

_Yes, yes, yes, come on..._

He unfastened the collar, pulled it off, and scratched Sirius vigorously where it had been. Sirius felt himself going cross-eyed with enjoyment.

_No wonder dogs seem to enjoy this so much. It feels wonderful._

_Or maybe that's just a side effect of being with Harry again._

Harry yawned. "You know something, Padfoot? I haven't been sleeping very well. Nightmares. I didn't have nightmares before I left Hogwarts – that's my school – because... well, I don't really know why. I had this crazy feeling sometimes, like Sirius wasn't really dead, like he was with me, sitting near me or talking to me, and I could sleep better when that happened."

He yawned again. "I haven't had that since I got back here. Until you got here. Now, all of a sudden, I feel like that again. And I want to go to sleep. Is that OK with you?"

_Might as well risk it._ Sirius nodded.

"Great. Thanks." Harry pulled his glasses off, folded them, and put them carefully on the nightstand. Sirius moved so that Harry could lie on the bed the right way, head on the pillow, feet down near the end. _Has he grown? Maybe he's hitting another spurt._

"G'night, Padfoot," Harry said sleepily as his eyes closed.

_Good night, Harry. Sleep well._

Sirius nestled up to his godson and allowed his own eyes to close.

-----

(A/N: OK, so you knew this was going to happen. Any guesses on what's coming next?

Thanks to blueJosh (me too!), avalon64, NSW, and emikae (no, they're gray). Sorry for the continued lateness of updates, but family and holiday and homework are kind of intervening... you know, that pesky little thing called real life...

Fan fiction is so much better, though...

Ah well, see you all next time!)


	8. Never Drop Your Wand

Chapter 8: Never Drop Your Wand

"Sirius."

"Mmmmph."

"Sirius."

"Wha?"

"_Sirius!_ Wake up!"

"Go'way."

"If you don't get up, I'm going down to the Great Hall and eating all the bacon."

"Ah'right, Wormtail, 'm up…"

_Wait a second…_

A softly-glowing version of Peter Pettigrew snorted at Sirius' open-mouthed expression of surprise. "Honestly, with reactions like that, how did you ever survive as a dog?"

"I found really safe places to sleep. _What are you doing here?_" Sirius kept his voice down, since Harry was still asleep.

"A little more payment for my debt. The attack time's been changed – the Death Eaters will be here at sunrise."

Sirius looked out the window and swore under his breath. "That's any minute now."

"Exactly. Send the Muggles off first – they'll ignore them as long as Harry's not with them – but you and Harry are going to have to Apparate out. They're already closer than Arabella Figg's place, and that's the closest Floo connection."

_Not good. But better than it would have been if they'd gotten in with us still asleep._ "Thanks, Peter."

"You're welcome." Wormtail faded into the general darkness of the room, making Sirius blink a few times as his eyes readjusted.

_Apparently it would be too much for me to have a normal life. _

_Of course, normal is overrated._

He hurried down the hall to the master bedroom.

_This ought to be fun, at any rate._

He put a quick Silencing Charm on Vernon Dursley, then shook the man hard by the shoulder. Vernon's eyes snapped open, then popped as he registered a stranger in his bedroom – a stranger with a wand…

"Listen carefully, there's not much time," Sirius said quickly. "There are Dark wizards surrounding your house – they want your nephew, but they'd be perfectly happy to kill you and your family. If you get out of here, now, you can avoid them. Here, take this." He pulled his Order locator out of his pocket. "This will help the good wizards find you."

Vernon looked as if he might strangle if he didn't get to say something soon. Sirius sighed and removed the charm.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Vernon sputtered – quietly, for a change. "How do I know you're not trying to kill me?"

"If I wanted you dead, you would already be dead." Petunia was awake by now, staring at him and clutching the bedcovers. "Please do it. Take your son and go. I don't want anyone to die."

"You're that Black man," Petunia said suddenly. "Harry's godfather."

"Yes, I am."

"He's telling the truth, Vernon," Petunia said, getting quickly out of bed. "We have to go, now."

Sirius nodded to her and left the bedroom, shutting the door on a fresh sputter of Vernon's.

_I hope they get out in time. It's not my concern, now, I've done all I can… I have to worry about Harry…_

He pushed his godson's door open.

Harry shot upright beyond the bed, where he was bent over something on the floor. In the dim grey light of pre-dawn, Sirius saw the shock on Harry's face, the total disbelief.

A wand clattered to the floor.

"_Pick it up!_" Sirius barked, shutting the door quickly behind him. Harry dove for his wand, still staring. "_Never_ drop your wand! Never, no matter _what_ you think you see! Do you understand?"

Harry nodded dumbly.

"Now, how about a hug?" Sirius asked in a more normal tone.

"What did you give me for Christmas?" Harry asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"What?"

"Just before I left your house, you gave me a Christmas present. What was it?"

_Good boy, Harry! Nothing on faith, test before you believe, that's the way!_ "A two-way mirror. I kept the other one. It's back in Grimmauld Place – I got caught without it, the day I went to the Department of Mysteries. I'm sorry, I did promise I'd have it with me all the time…"

Harry was shaking his head, a smile starting on his face. "It's all right. It's all right now. You're back. You're really back. Right?"

"Right," Sirius confirmed, holding his arms open. "Oof." Harry might not have been eating well, but he still packed quite a punch when he ran straight into one.

"I missed you," Harry got out before he broke down crying against Sirius' chest.

"You big lummox," Sirius said affectionately, mussing up his godson's hair more than it was already mussed, if that was possible. "I missed you too." A drop of water fell into Harry's hair. _Where did that come from? Oh… I'm crying too. Guess I'm happy to be back._

_But neither of us is going to have a chance to be happy if we don't get out of here. And fast._

"Harry, we have to leave. The Death Eaters are coming, they've found a way past the wards. At least they think they have. I don't know if it'll work, but we have to get out of here."

"How?" Harry asked in a halfway normal tone, wiping his eyes. "Are we going to fly, or what?"

"I'm going to have to Apparate us. And double-Apparating is not comfortable. We'll likely both be sick to our stomachs. Really sick. We won't die, but we might wish we had. You up for it?"

"You ever take Polyjuice Potion?" Harry asked.

"No, but I've heard it's horrible."

"Disgusting. Worst thing I've ever tasted. Worse than anything Madame Pomfrey ever shoved into me, including Skele-Gro."

"Now that I _have_ tasted, and it takes a lot to be worse than that." Sirius' eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute, how do you know what Polyjuice Potion tastes like? You're not supposed to get into things that advanced until your seventh year…"

Harry grinned. "You mean we've never told you this story?"

"Should I be worried or proud?"

"Well, we didn't get caught…"

"Proud."

"And we got into the Slytherin common room…"

"_Exceptionally_ proud. When was this?"

"Guess."

"This past year. I can't imagine any of you would have been able to brew something like that before fifth year."

Harry sniggered. "You are _so_ wrong. Did you forget about that bushy-haired girl I hang out with? The one who's always three years ahead of her class?"

"Three years… oh no. Please don't tell me you took Polyjuice Potion in your _second _year."

"You want me to lie to you?"

"No… but great Merlin, Harry, did you have any idea the kinds of things that could go wrong?"

"Hermione got animal hair in hers and it took her a month or so to get back to normal. Things like that?"

"Yes. Things like that. For that matter, how did you get a hold of the ingredients for something like that?"

Harry looked at the ceiling. "Threw a firework into Goyle's cauldron full of Swelling Solution," he said quietly, but with a trace of laughter in his voice. "Hermione raided Snape's office while he was dealing with it."

Sirius shook his head in disbelief. "Now I see why James is so proud of you."

"Is?" Harry asked, his head snapping back to focus on Sirius. "You mean…"

"I saw them, Harry. Your father and mother. They send their love." _The rest can wait… damn it, we got distracted! We have to go, now!_

As if to reinforce that thought, the house shook from top to bottom as something struck it.

"What was that?" Harry asked, hand going to his wand.

"Someone's testing the protections. They're here. Get the Map, Harry. And the Invisibility Cloak. I'll let Hedwig go. Leave everything else, it can be replaced."

Harry dashed to his trunk and flung it open. Sirius opened Hedwig's cage, and she took off and flew out the open window.

"Hoy, there goes his owl!" a voice shouted from the street.

_Oh no you don't._ Careful not to show himself, Sirius shielded Hedwig as a Stunner flew at her. Shrieking her anger, the snowy owl dove. A shriek echoed down the street, and Hedwig came back into Sirius' line of sight with bloody talons, looking, he thought, rather pleased with herself as she winged quickly out of range.

"Got 'em," Harry said, turning back to Sirius.

"Come here, and hold – "

The door crashed open.

"Up here!" shouted Draco Malfoy. "He's up h – "

"_Silencio!_" Harry shouted, just as Sirius cast a rather more difficult spell, drawing on something he remembered Harry telling him about…

A pure white ferret hit the ground silently.

"_Stupefy,_" Harry hissed, and the ferret collapsed. He dashed forward and snatched it up. "Buckbeak likes to eat ferrets, as I recall," he said, grinning.

"You are an evil young man," Sirius said approvingly. "Hold on tight, now. Here we go."

The last thing he saw as he Disapparated were the three bleeding scratches on the head of a gaping girl with a face like a pug dog as she appeared in the doorway…

-----

They arrived in the front hall of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, gasping for breath and rather green, but all in one piece.

"Uuuuugggghhhhhh." Harry slid to the floor. "Stop the room, I want to get off."

The velvet curtains flew open.

"FILTH! CREATURES OF FILTH! HOW DARE YOU DESPOIL THIS HOU – "

"Shut up," Sirius said wearily, cutting his mother off in mid-screech. "I'm getting rid of you first thing tomorrow."

The curtains snapped closed again.

_Well, if I'd known all I had to do to shut her up was die and come back to life, I would have done it a long time ago._

Order members exploded into the hall, Tonks and Lupin first, three or four Weasleys close behind them, then others. Sirius was in no mood to look.

"Took you long enough," he said wearily, staggering over to the stairs and sitting down. "We're all right, just had a rough Apparation. The Death Eaters are at Privet Drive – " Kingsley Shacklebolt swore and vanished, Tonks and the Weasley twins right behind him. " – and the Dursleys are on their way elsewhere."

"Where?" asked someone, Bill Weasley, he thought.

"Don't know. But they've got my locator, you should be able to find them." More pops of Disapparations – the hall was almost deserted now. "Oh, and someone take care of this." He pulled the ferret out of his pocket. "Moody, you want it?"

"I don't keep pets," Moody growled.

"'Snot a pet. 'S a Junior Death Eater. We nabbed him before we left. The Snark Lord must be getting low on talent."

"Nice Transfiguration," Moody said, looking the ferret over. "Couldn't have done better myself. Don't worry, we'll take care of everything." He Disapparated, leaving Sirius alone in the hallway with Remus, who was helping Harry sit up.

"Sirius," Harry moaned.

"I'm here," Sirius said, opting to crawl rather than get up. Undignified, but it got him where he was going – Harry's side. "Right here." _And I am never leaving you again. Never._

"You said you saw my parents?"

"Sure did. They sent their love, first of all. Several times. And James said to tell you you're better than he ever was on a broom, and told me to hex Malfoy for him. I think turning him into a ferret counts. He also said to tell you he apologized for pantsing Snape. Not sure if he should have, but he did. And your mum said to tell you Cedric Diggory doesn't blame you at all."

Harry smiled cautiously. "Thanks. That's great to know. All of it. But mostly I'm just glad you're back." He closed his eyes, swallowing hard. "Think I need the loo."

"I'll get you there," Remus said, helping Harry to his feet and guiding him down the hall. Sirius stayed where he was, partially because he thought if he moved he might be sick, but partially because he really didn't have any reason to go anywhere.

_Harry's here. Why should I go anywhere?_

With that in mind, it was easy to lean his head back against the wall, easy to close his eyes and ignore his lingering sick feelings, easy to drift away into sleep again…

-----

Remus wasn't really surprised when Harry fell asleep almost before he was done rinsing his mouth out.

_He's just had several shocks and a very jarring experience. Sleep's the best thing for him now._

Conjuring a stretcher, he carefully levitated Harry onto it, then guided it up the stairs (noticing Sirius with a quiet chuckle and making a mental note to come back for him) and into the master bedroom – Sirius' room.

_Better not to separate them now. Harry needs the comfort._

He got the boy onto the enormous canopy bed, glad now that he had taken the time the night before to make it up with fresh sheets.

"_We make a bed with clean sheets for guests or for people who are coming home, Remus."_ He could still hear his mother, explaining to her curious six-year-old why she was changing the sheets on the bed she shared with his father, even though she had changed them only three days before, when his father was due home from a short trip. _"It reminds them that they are welcome in our home."_

Tugging Harry's shoes off, Remus smiled. _No one's more welcome here than you, Harry. And with you around, this might actually turn into Sirius' home._

He went back downstairs and brought Sirius up the same way, putting him on the other side of the bed.

_That's so sweet. They snuggled up in their sleep._

He left them that way, Harry cradled against Sirius' chest, Sirius' arm over Harry's side. He closed the door and had to laugh as a random thought struck him.

_Only Padfoot, of anyone I know, could get out of _death_ on extenuating circumstances._

-----

**THE END**

-----

(A/N: Well, maybe. End of the actual storyline. Might be an epilogue in here somewhere, to tie up a loose end or two… don't know. Must do work first, though. Freaking teachers. They think I have nothing better to do than their stinking papers.

vindicated-16, Caprice-Ann HedicanKocur, emikae, MAndrews, NSW: Thanks!

blueJosh: That's my normal chapter length, dude… and what does "it does more to advance the plot than tell the story" mean? Oh, and does "V, V, V to the M" mean anything to you? Just curious.

Hugs to you all… oh, and a recommend… my friend (and semi-official beta) whydoyouneedtoknow has an AU story called "Living with Danger". RLOC, SBOC, and "baby Harry and Hermione are friends". It's on my favorites list. If you like me, you may like her – we learned to write at the same place. Thanks everyone for R&Ring!)


	9. Epilogue: The Best Year Ever

Epilogue: The Best Year Ever

Ginny Weasley fell onto her bed with a sigh of pure contentment. _Trunk's packed, homework's done, look out O.W.L.s, here I come..._

"This is going to be a wonderful school year," she said to no one in particular. A loud squeak made her look up. "Yes, it is, Deedee. Even for you."

Deedee had been given to her on her birthday, a few weeks previous, by Alastor Moody, both in honor of the day and to celebrate her being made a prefect. Her family and Harry had gone halves in getting her a new broomstick, since Moody had taken care of the traditional new pet for a Weasley prefect.

"You won't miss a thing, you know," she said brightly, going over to Deedee's cage. "I'll take you out flying so you don't miss Quidditch. You can be the Gryffindor team mascot if you like." She ignored the pained squealing which seemed to say that Deedee would _not_ like. "And Hermione's promised to read you her notes every night so you don't get behindhand. You can even go to class with her and Harry and Ron – I'm sure Professor Black would love to have something to demonstrate curses on for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

She giggled. She was looking forward to having Sirius as one of her professors. His name had been cleared early in the summer by his testimony under Veritaserum, and Professor Dumbledore had hired him for the perpetually empty DADA position. The next time she'd seen Professor Severus Snape, he had looked as if he had just been forced to drink one of his own noxious creations. The look had grown worse, if anything, as the summer had progressed.

"And Professor McGonagall can use you for Transfiguration, and Professor Flitwick for Charms, and even Professor Snape for Potions testing – you'll have a different look every day! Won't that be fun?"

Deedee gave a series of wild squeals, running in circles.

Ginny sighed, feeling guilty for a moment. _This is pretty mean of us..._

_But really, where else could the poor boy go? Both parents arrested as Death Eaters, the family's property and money seized – he's much better off here than he would be anywhere else. And it's not as if we're actually hurting him._

Her mind wandered to other consequences of that failed attack on Privet Drive. The Dursleys had successfully eluded the Death Eaters and were now resettled somewhere in the country. No one knew where, not even Harry, which was the way he wanted it. The blood magic wards, after all, had collapsed when the Dursleys had left the house with no intention of coming back.

_And there's really no need to reestablish them. Harry's got enough protection here. A house no one can find, and a dozen or so people who'd die to save him._ Ginny squared her shoulders. _Including me. _

_That does it. This is the year I finally tell Harry Potter how I really feel about him. _

_No need to hurry, though. Better wait until we're settled in at school. _

Thinking of school reminded her of something. "Of course Professor Hagrid will want to meet you, Deedee. Maybe he'll introduce you to Buckbeak. And I bet he's got a nice female ferret you can breed with."

The sounds from the cage escalated towards panic.

Chuckling, Ginny started laying out her robes for the morning.

_I'm a prefect, I'm on the Quidditch team, I'm going to make Harry Potter fall in love with me, and I have Draco Malfoy in a cage in my room... _

_This is going to be the best year ever. _

-----

**THE (real) END**

-----

(A/N: OK, that's really all she wrote. For real and definitely, this time.

Maybe.

::maniacal giggling::

Please, please review! I love reviews! (Don't we all...) Even if you're reading this years and years after I've written it, please let me know what you thought! Love to all my faithful reviewers, and please, if you like my work here, check out my other stuff, and my beta's!

Hugs and hearts from **_StB_**)


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